Google's Year in Search 2025 is a list of the fastest-rising queries, from 1 January to 25 November, measured against the same stretch a year earlier. It is not a list of the most searched things, which is a distinction I like, because rising is more interesting than big. Lyst does something similar for fashion. Its quarterly Index ranks brands and products using demand from 160 million annual shoppers plus social, search and editorial signals. In the Q2 2026 Index, published on 5 August, a New York Knicks cap came in at number one among hottest products after demand rose 4,276 percent on the quarter, and Chanel stayed the hottest brand. So the question is what is rising in menswear, and I think the honest answer starts with the outer layer. Kaptain Sunshine launched in 2013 under Shinsuke Kojima, and it takes American workwear and military style and sews it the Japanese way. The brown cotton and linen jacket is the one I would pick. WTAPS, founded in Tokyo in 1996 by Tetsu Nishiyama, takes its name from a military shooting term for two quick shots at one target, and the Chief CORDURA jacket in black shows why. Wear either over a plain white tee and nothing else. What I would skip is the Aimé Leon Dore satin varsity on a rainy commute, because satin and a downpour is a poor argument.

Our Legacy is the Stockholm label I trust most with a sweater. Jockum Hallin, Cristopher Nying and Richardos Klarén started it in 2005, it is still independent, and it is known for taking custom-developed fabrics and applying them to a short list of signature shapes. The merino zip-up cardigan in brown is exactly that. Drake's began in London in 1977, founded by three former Aquascutum employees, and it started with scarves before becoming best known for handmade ties. Its brushed wool sweater in pink is the one color on this page I would actually push you toward, because pink wool on a gray day looks confident, not loud. Paul Smith's striped wool and cotton knit is the traditional answer, and Paul Smith opened his first shop in Nottingham in 1970, about three by three meters with no windows. For the sweats, the Aimé Leon Dore Marina sweatpants in gray are straight-leg, which keeps them looking like trousers from a few feet away. What I would skip is the JW Anderson zip-up hoodie in blue if you are headed to anywhere with a dress code, because a hoodie is a weekend answer however good the label.

This is the section where search spikes turn into real wardrobes, because a shirt is the easiest way to try a new label. Kardo is the one I would watch. Rikki Kher started it in 2013 with a single sewing machine in a Shahpur Jat workshop in Delhi, and every piece is made start to finish by one artisan in the Noida workshop, so the red striped camp-collar shirt has an actual maker behind it. Officine Générale, founded in 2012 by Pierre Mahéo in Saint-Germain-des-Prés, calls its point of view beautiful normality, and the navy Eren camp-collar check is exactly that. For tees, Our Legacy's New Box in white is my daily one, and the KAPITAL striped tee in beige comes from Kojima, the Okayama town Japan calls its denim capital. Stone Island was born in 1982 out of Tela Stella, a heavy canvas, and the Ghost shirt in green is its modern echo. What I would skip is the Balenciaga printed tee when you are layering under an overshirt, because the print vanishes and you are left with a white T-shirt.

Every pair here is straight in the leg, and that is the real trend in this grid. 3sixteen began in 2008 with its first jeans, the SL-100x, and the brand is run from New York by Andrew Chen and Johan Lam. Their custom denim is woven with Kuroki Mills in Okayama on vintage Toyoda shuttle looms, and the indigo RS-120x relaxed straight jean is built from that denim. Our Legacy's Carlson Cut in blue is the cleaner option. Neighborhood, started by Shinsuke Takizawa in Harajuku in 1994 from a love of motorcycles, is known for damaged denim, and the Savage embroidered jean is the one to buy if you want your denim to have a personality. For trousers, the Aimé Leon Dore pleated cotton pair in black is easy to wear with a polo, and the Second / Layer Zooty wool-twill in brown comes from a label started in the Willis family basement in Venice, California. Rule of thumb: the louder the jean, the plainer the top. What I would skip is stacking the Cherry Los Angeles distressed jean with a loud graphic tee, because two loud pieces fight each other.

The shoe grid is where a brand's history matters most in this edit. Sebago was founded in Maine in 1946 and is best known for the Docksides, a 1980s US college fashion trend, so the Ranger Artisan suede boat shoe in beige has genuine background. Yuketen is the more unusual version. Yuki Matsuda founded it in 1989, and its best-known silhouette is the Maine Guide Boot, which merges a moccasin with a New England trapper boot, so the Hex Eye boat shoe in brown comes from a label that has thought about moccasins for decades. Diemme comes from Montebelluna, a Veneto town known for mountain boots, where brothers Dennis and Maico Signor founded it in 1992, and the Cornaro nubuck hiker is the one for wet weekends. visvim's Nolan suede-trimmed canvas sneaker is where I would send anyone who wants sneakers with story, since Hiroki Nakamura founded the label in Tokyo in 2000. Wear the Our Legacy loafers with the jeans above and nothing else will need to change. What I would skip is the Golden Goose Ball Star in cream at a wet festival, because the whole look is distressed on purpose and you will not be able to tell the difference.

I would argue sunglasses are the most underrated buy of the year, because one pair changes the whole face of an outfit. Sato makes its frames in Fukui, which Mr Porter calls Japan's eyeglasses capital, in small batches with lightweight Japanese titanium. The Sira in tortoiseshell has that nineties shape. Jacques Marie Mage, founded in 2014 by Jérôme Mage and designed in Los Angeles, keeps its serialized runs to no more than 500 pairs per design, and the Dino in black is a thick, serious frame. Oliver Peoples, from Larry and Dennis Leight in Los Angeles in 1986, joins Jil Sander on the Edition 6 in tortoiseshell. For belts, Anderson's in Parma makes only belts, and the navy suede-trimmed braided belt is the ideal way to dress up jeans. Portal was founded in London in 2023 by four partners with backgrounds in design and running gear and makes gear for running, cycling and hiking, so its Planar cap is a young name worth knowing. Put the NN07 ripstop weekend bag in black on your shoulder and you have an outfit. What I would skip is the Enfants Riches Déprimés cross ring with a heritage look, because its punk edge fights anything polished.

Trending lists are useful for noticing and bad for deciding. A cap can rise by four thousand percent in a quarter and still not belong in your closet. What I do instead is read the list for direction, then buy the piece with a maker behind it. This edit leans on a few of those makers. Our Legacy for knits and loafers, 3sixteen for jeans, Sebago or Diemme for shoes, and a good pair of tortoiseshell frames to finish. If I were buying in order, I would start with the jeans, because everything else builds off them. Then the jacket, then the sneakers or boat shoes. Add a camp-collar shirt when it warms up and a sweater when it cools off. Keep one loud piece per outfit and let the rest be plain. By the time the next Lyst Index comes out, half of this will look dated, and the straight jeans, the brown jacket and the good sunglasses will not.

A search list tells you what people want, and this shelf is where I would act on it. The pieces I keep returning to are the ones with a clear maker behind them. The KAPITAL denim jacket and the Aimé Leon Dore lightweight jacket cover the outer layer, and the visvim jersey tee and the LOEWE +Paula's Ibiza patch tee sit under either one. Our Legacy gives you the Borrowed checked flannel shirt and the Third Cut straight-leg jeans, which I would buy as a pair. The LOEWE raffia-trimmed loafers and Balenciaga Radar mesh sneakers handle the shoes, and the Dior Eyewear square frames and NN07 leather belt finish the outfit. What I would skip: the WTAPS striped tee under the denim jacket, since two loud pieces compete.

If you want to keep going, Exclusive Menswear and Japanese Menswear pair well with this edit.