I was sitting at a cafe in Northwest Portland enjoying my third americano last Saturday when I had my revelation. It was midday on a sunny weekend, so of course there was a parade of Portland bros ambling past the restaurant window. Look close and you could probably pick out the Freelance Graphic Designer.
The Software Developer. The Entrepreneur. They were wearing – you guessed it – performance joggers, tech fleece zip-ups, and limited-release trainers.
It occurred to me, staring at the steady stream of carbon-copy dudes, that we had reached peak athleisure. When your accountant looks like he just came from the gym and your trainer could give a presentation in PowerPoint had he majored in English, it might be time to accept we reached saturation as a culture.
Let’s be clear: I am as much a part of the problem as anyone.
I am literally wearing leggings from Lululemon as I type this that are probably tight enough to do hot yoga in but will more likely just get walked home in then massacred by my cat. I own approximately twelve fleece zip-ups from popular “performance lifestyle brands.” And hey, athleisure has been good to dudes like me. It gave us comfort and finally allowed men to care about how our clothing fits without shame.
But it’s been nine years of sweat-wicking fabrics taking over our closets. There’s plenty of wear remaining, but I think we may have passed peak. In fashion, all things trend cyclically – I learned that lesson the hard way as a teenage hypebeast – and lately I’ve noticed some trends that lead me to believe we are entering the next era of menswear… beyond athleisure.
So what comes after athletes want clothes they can live in? After talking to experts and spotting trends myself, here are my predictions for where menswear is heading next. Ready-Fitted Clothes Let’s get this out of the way: we’re never going back to uncomfortable clothing.
Thank you, God, for permanently ending the days of stiff jeans and restrictive dress shirts. But what I’m starting to notice is a newfound appreciation for what my friend Emma likes to call “stealth comfort.” Clothes that look traditional but have elements of performance woven throughout. I noticed this trend popping up last year while visiting a menswear trade show for, um… work. (Yeah, don’t ask.) Italian brands I was talking to were showcasing suits and blazers that looked 100% traditional, but were cut with performance fabrics.
They were slim, but not clingy. There was intention to the cuts and fabrics, but nothing felt sloppy. A brand rep handed me what looked to be an OG herringbone jacket and dared me to wrinkI’m it.
Literally crumpled the thing in my hands for a solid minute. I dropped the jacket and it popped back to pristine. “Not your grandpa’s tweed.” he said, smiling proudly in his perfect Italian smack talk. The difference here is that these jackets and trousers don’t LOOK like they’re made from PERFORMANCE FABRIC.
Brands have got pretty slick about weaving performance into traditional fabrics without screaming it from the mountaintops. The opposite of your great-grandpa’s tweed, am I right? My buddy Marcus – who works in buying at a high-end retailer – explained it to me this way over beers the other night.
Dressing has gone from “I could go to the gym after this” to “I’m staying comfy, but looking sharp AF.” He said sales of their five-pocket pant are through the roof because they fit and feel like chinos, but handle like their Lululemon cousin. Natural Fabrics Getting An Upgrade One trend I’ve noticed is natural fabrics being given performance upgrades. Wool, particularly Merino wool, is huge right now because it’s natural, biodegradable, doesn’t stink after being worn all day, and regulates your body temperature.
Brands are using natural fabrics, then treating them to heighten performance without feeling or looking synthetic. Last autumn I toured a family-run factory outside of Asheville for – you guessed it – work and showed me their line of canvas work jackets that are waterproof but still fade and break down like traditional canvas jackets. The founder explained this to me as he pulled fabric samples from his archives: “Everyone wants fabrics with soul that ALSO perform.
They don’t want to feel like astronauts going to the grocery store.” Guys Want Clothes With Character If you bought into athleisure whole hog you probably own five athletic shirts that look identical to one another. Athletic wear is designed to not look like it’s been worn. But traditional fabrics get softer, break down, fade.
Wear enough jeans and your favourite pair start to feel like a second skin. After a decade of technological fabrics that look the same yesterday, today, and ten years from now, guys want clothes with patina. Clothes that fit *you*, not just someone’s chilly beans-shaped sizing model.
I’ve seen this appetite for worn-in clothes even among my own, tech-forward friends. My buddy Trevor – yup, wearing Outlier trousers before they were cool – recently showed up to dinner in raw denim and a chambray work shirt. I ribbed him about abandoning the future for clothes from the past.
He shrugged and laughed. Said he was tired of looking like he was 30 seconds from the gym. Wanted some texture in his wardrobe.
Texture fits right into this idea as well. Guys are craving colour and pattern again. Instead of fifty shades of black/grayscale/navy we’re seeing shirts with interesting weaves, subtle patterns, and surprising colours.
After a decade of aggressively minimalist clothing, guys want their clothes to have some visual interest. Clothes That Aren’t Designed To Look Brand New Forever Athleisure clothes are made to look damn good when they’re new. That’s the whole point of technological fabrics.
But another subtle shift I’m noticing is guys are craving vintage-inspired clothing that doesn’t look BRAND SPOTLESS. Three formerly-dying heritage workwear brands popped up on GANGBest waiting lists last year alone, while countless younger guys I know have fallen down the vintage rabbit hole hard. The owner of a vintage store in LA told me sales have doubled since 2021 and it’s mostly guys in their twenties buying vintage work jackets and faded denim shirts. “These kids are over disposable fashion,” he said. “They want clothes with history.” Vintage is even bleeding into trainers.
After a decade of trainers with mesh knits and mile-wide shoulders, we’re seeing the biggest pushes for retro trainers or new trainers that heavily draw from vintage styles. Gone are bright futurism and mr sex cloth materials. What we’re seeing now is cozy wool jackets, trainers that resemble White-ons, and trainers marketed as “yard socks.” Looser Silhouettes Athleisure will forever be tied to tight-fitting clothing, even when wearing its most relaxed pieces.
But what I’m seeing lately is clothes with more drape. Trousers are wider. Tops have more fabric and room to move.
Pleated trousers? Feathers in my hair. We’re not going back to the dowdy oversized looks of yesteryear, but guys are done looking like shotguns ready to fire.
Athletes, maybe. Actual men going about their day? Less so.
I saw this athletic-yet-relaxed philosophy implemented beautifully at an unveiling for Japanese- American brand a few months back. They were showcasing an entire collection of wide-legged hemp-cotton trousers and oversized overshirts dyed with natural toners. “We’re still using performance fabrics,” explained their designer. “But we’re cutting them much more generously. Modern men want room to move, without feeling like they’re hitting the gym.” I don’t have a catch-all phrase for what’s replacing athleisure.
But if I did, I’d call it “intentional casual” or clothes that feel great, serve a purpose but skew visually interesting. Performance attributes still exist, they’re just hidden under floppy collars and interesting fabrications. Sure, some regions of the country are farther along in these trends than others.
I just spent a week in San Francisco and yes, performance wear ruled supreme. But even there I noticed guys opting for jumper fabrics with texture and natural fibres over the shiny,macadamia cotton blends we wore a decade ago. I was recently in Nashville and man, the post athleisure future is already here.
Vintage Levi’s, muted denim jackets, and guys unconsciously mixing performance tights with vintage work shirts in a way that just…works. Age matters too. My younger brother Jake (who is 26 and works in marketing) actually skipped athleisure completely. “I went from dorm sweatpants straight to adult clothes that don’t suck to wear” he said.
My generation eased ourselves into comfort with joggers. Millennials bought graphic t-shirts by the bulk. Gen Z wants clothes that fit their body…but look like grown up clothing.
Fair. Very fair. So where does that leave you and your wardrobe?
Short answer: don’t dump all your performance clothes. Hell, you’ll still want those techy-looking chinos that simply LOOK like regular trousers. But adidas Basketball Shorts As Casual Wear are going to stay in the gym where they belong.
And there will be more wonderful natural fabrics coming out that you’ll gravitate toward. Many brands are noticing these shifts and reacting. Take Lululemon, who just started selling button-up Oxford shirts – they have lightweight stretch, sure, but they’re not athletic looking.
Traditional menswear brands are also stepping up their games by adding performance to items without screaming it from the heavens. Suddenly every wool jumper feels water-resistant and every pair of wool trousers feel flexible. The interesting brands will exist in that space between.
Traditional clothing companies quietly adding performance where it counts. Performance companies finding ways to make clothes that don’t LOOK like performance attire. It’s an exciting time to be a dude shopping for clothes.
I realised all this when I did my own clothing purge last month and found seven near-identical pairs of black performance trousers.
SEVEN PAIRS. Every time I bought one I had convinced myself it was “different.” As I piled six of them onto the donate clothes bag I felt free.
Ready to embrace clothing that was just as comfortable but more interesting. More me. Because at the end of the day what’s driving this “new” era of menswear is guys craving personal expression after a decade wearing comfortable uniforms.
We didn’t mind athleisure at first because it was easy. An almost too-simple way to look and feel put-together. But what happens when easy becomes boring?
Turns out dudes don’t want to be boring dressers. We just want clothes we feel good in. Clothes that fit our lives.
And now, clothes that actually reflect who we are.
