5 trends that will dominate menswear in 2022

We live in chaotic times – which can be a hassle if you're trying to organize a New Year's Eve trip, but also a stimulus if you try to predict what the new cutting edge of fashion will be next year. Much of the trend forecasting that is done in fashion is less about cold statistics than instinct – half of the forecasters, independent or corporate, who publish their horoscopes for the year to come are a bit like those Apache hunters who keep their ears on the ground to perceive the movements of their prey miles away. That said, never as in 2021 and certainly in 2022 has fashion been the faithful barometer of identity and social instances: as society evolves, so fashion re-orients itself. It is no coincidence that all the voices agree in asserting that, in the state of flow in which we have found ourselves in the last two years, we must closely mark the tastes of the new generations, the whims and tastes of the multifaceted Gen Z, as multifaceted as it is nostalgic and, strangely, predictable. 

So here are the 5 trends that will dominate fashion in 2022 according to the editorial staff of nss magazine.

New Sexy

Coperni SS22

Celine SS22

Alyx SS22

Balenciaga Pre-Fall 2022

Saint Laurent SS22

Rick Owens SS22

Prada SS22

Ludovic de Saint Sernin SS22

As Eugene Rabkin rightly speculates on the pages of BoF, the new wave of sexy clothes that has spread on the catwalks and instagram of half the world has more to do with a sort of new voyeurism than with hedonism itself. Compared to the remote past and based on the recent one, the male body will be more discovered than ever this year. An idea that makes us rethink the oracle of Rick Owens, on how training is a modern form of couture: the fact is that the menswear catwalks of the 2022 seasons have seen a rain of hyper-tight clothes, naked torsos, very short pants, tops with cut-outs that leave huge footage of uncovered leather. All a language borrowed, as fashion often does, frpm the queer culture that has never found affirmation as this year outside the clubs and on the streets – and that in its most everyday and discreet terms has translated into a dizzying increase in sleeveless tops for men and transparent clothes that show off biceps and abs. 

Fuzzy-core

Jacquemus FW21

Bottega Veneta Resort 2022

Aimè Leon Dore FW21

Rick Owens SS22

Marni SS22

JW Anderson SS22

Supreme FW21

2022 will also be the year in which the idea that the dress can no longer be a two-dimensional surface dedicated to pure sight will be confirmed without replication. Fashion will become more and more tactile, the exaggerated texture and perceptible even through smartphone screens and digital lookbooks has become de rigeur. Otherwise we would not explain the thousand fleece, eco-furs, fuzzy sweaters and mohair that this year have been seen almost everywhere and will only increase. 

Preppy 2.0

Dior FW22

Gucci Pre-Fall 2022

Louis Vuitton Pre-Fall 2022

Kith FW21

Aimè Leon Dore FW21

Stefan Cooke SS22

Jil Sander SS22

The ultimate derivation of streetwear as well as a place of confluence of nostalgia, practical needs, passion for vintage and the search for a new classicism, the Preppy 2.0 has become a category in its own right in the fashion scene this year and in 2022 will represent the market's response to the intense sensuality of the most showy and avant-garde fashion. The king of the new trend is obviously Teddy Santis who with Aimè Leon Dore has created a recognizable yet almost indefinable language that is both genderless, tactile, always elegant and always relaxed but also always wearable. After all, you don't live your life constantly dressed like the bartenders of a sadomasochistic club in Berlin. Santis' language, with its advantage of always having his feet on the ground, of being able to speak to all audiences, has been imitated almost everywhere in the language of democratic fashion and streetwear – from Kith, to the new Abercrombie & Fitch passing through the return of fashion of stealth wealth brands.

Creative trousers

Givenchy SS22

Diesel Pre-Fall 2022

Casablanca SS22

Celine SS22

Charles Jeffrey Loverboy SS22

Y/Project SS22

Maison Mihara Yashihiro SS22

Hed Mayner SS22

GmbH SS22

Yohji Yamamoto SS22

Bode FW21

For too many years menswear has always focused only on the upper part of the body. A neglect that in 2022 will not be repeated: scrolling through the galleries of #GrailFits and the looks of the @hftgroup community (a seismograph much more sensitive to new trends than any Vogue Runway) you can see a new protagonism of the pants that stop being anonymous pedestals for the tops and begin to be enriched with decorations, patches, structure,  new fit. From the cargo and workpants of Carhartt that even Louis Vuitton has redone through the reinterpretations of the JACNO Jeans seen by Celine and Balenciaga, in 2022 the trousers will be the true witness of the inspiration of the wearer.

The Tunic Wave

Raf Simons SS22

Zegna SS22

The Row Pre-Fall 2022

Thom Browne Pre-Fall 2022

Junya Watanabe SS22

Fendi SS22

Balenciaga Pre-Fall 2022

Ann Demeulemeester SS22

Alyx SS22

If the many attempts seen in the last two years have made us understand something, it is that making genderless clothing is really difficult. Beyond the genderless basics such as blazers and crewneck sweatshirts that are technically suitable for everyone but which definitely lack the thrill of innovation, it is complicated to create a genderless fashion that can really speak to the totality of the public and not to too narrow audiences. But the solution exists: the tunic. From the oversized shirts that reach the knees to the sweaters of Raf Simons that look more like capes, from the mega-oversized suits that appeared almost everywhere to the belled silhouettes of Balenciaga and Rick Owens, the arrival of the wave tunic is just around the corner. A wave that brings together a bit of everything: body inclusive, genderless, declinable starting from every item of the wardrobe – and above all very comfortable.