Runway Report: 7 Hottest Menswear Trends This Spring/Summer 2023

Menswear trends this spring/summer 2023 brought a convergence of the masculine, gender-fluid and feminine – and on reflection, that isn’t as unusual as it may have seemed at first. After all, when were fashion shows not an exhibition of splendidly varied personas for us to explore?

Keep reading to discover the hottest menswear trends this spring/summer 2023:

Live Poets Society

Exaggerated cuffs, deep necklines and airy textiles harmonise on menswear runways this season in a flurry of poet shirts that range from enticingly avant-garde to simply elegant.

There’s something so lyrical about a poet shirt – with the dulcet fluttering of fabric in the wind, it creates a symphony few other articles of clothing can replicate. For centuries it’s been one of the most distinguishing indicia of gentlemen, and now it’s officially returned in new and exciting formats. Valentino’s Pierpaolo Piccioli offers his interpretation of the trend in a cream cape-sleeved piece with a sash detail, while forever-bohemian Etro embraces the sheer and plunging necklines with playful hints of a hot summer spent lazing on an Italian riviera. 

’50s Dandy

Old Hollywood is back on the runways and closets this season, and it means business. One can’t have too many biker jackets and trench coats, right?

Brando, that seductive rogue in A Streetcar Named Desire? Yes, we’d be delighted. And don’t even get us started on William Holden wooing Gloria Swanson in Sunset Boulevard. It’s a feast for the eyes, especially when the delicious archetypes are reimagined by the likes of Dolce & Gabbana and Celine. Even Ralph Lauren seems to have dipped its toes into the 1950s aesthetic with a tasteful three-piece made of washed denim, a newsboy cap and a leather messenger bag. Journeying back in time has never been so tantalisingly addictive.

Sheer Joy

Transparency is in, at least as far as this season’s fabrics are concerned. If your tops don’t reveal your better features, you probably don’t want them.

With summer 2023 beckoning, textile designers have worked tirelessly to come up with the most lightweight of menswear trends. And it doesn’t have to be just shirts (even if they’re as sensual as those by Saint Laurent). This season, anything goes. If you consider yourself a streetwear apologist, seek Givenchy’s Matthew Williams to create a sumptuous sheer sweatshirt; if a sculpted gender-fluid off-shoulder top is something you envision yourself scandalising the elderly in, turn to Ferragamo.  

Titillating Utility

All that’s functional is beautiful seems to be one mottos of the fashion flagbearers this season. 

Cargo pockets flocked the runways of Paris, Milan and New York like pigeons surrounding an overturned bread truck. The beloved utilitarian feature infiltrates the collections of avant-garde designer (Marine Serre) and legacy brands (Givenchy) alike. Glenn Martens of Y/Project, in turn, imagines what cargo pockets could look like in the context of his aesthetics, famously defined by draped and manipulated-past-recognition denim. 

Triangle of Bareness

The fashion of the day is sensuality. To feel the textured embrace of lapels tracing your collarbones, you must bid farewell to that shirt you’ve been sweltering in for to long.

Before leaving the house, heed Coco Chanel’s command and relinquish your shirt, for what lies beyond its fabric is a sight that’s stunning to behold. This season unleashes a cornucopia of finery designed to attract attention: feast on the exquisite sequin-covered suit from Gucci, Saint Laurent’s modern le smoking, or Versace’s sultry single-button number. Slip it on and leave as if you were born wearing it – for what is more luxurious than a man (slightly) undressed?

Thighs Out!

If your shorts are longer than your nails, you’re doing it wrong. This season, fashion tastemakers forbid us from hiding our legs behind fabric, and who are we to desist?

This spring, all style-conscious gentlemen shall eschew their long bermuda shorts, knee-breeches and cargo shorts. In their place, tiny shorts – those that favourably caress the leg – must be worn. Against all odds, Saint Laurent created the perfect context for such daring garments by showing them in a desert. Similarly, Italian stalwarts Ferragamo and Fendi presented their models wearing shorts that combine the formal with the casual. It’s time for all men of fashion to liberate their thighs from the shackles of fabric.

Flamingo Fella

Now boys can be blushing brides too – or, at least, their clothes can. The defining colour of spring/summer 2023 – dusty pink – is here to remind us that menswear isn’t all about stringent greys and unstimulating neutrals. 

One of the menswear trends this spring/summer 2023 dictates the boys match the rosiness of their cheeks with their garments. Moss rose, colonial rose, Spanish rose, honeysuckle and any other hue belonging to the princely palette of dusty pinks have possessed designers across the board, as attested by Alexander McQueen tailoring, Loewe raincoats and utilitarian Neil Barrett sets. Even the austere, rooted-in-tradition Zegna embraces the trend with its slouchy suits.