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Last year, we predicted that 2025 would usher in a sartorial shake-up as our anxious pursuit of personal style triggered a drift from monolithic trends towards a more playful pick-and-choose philosophy. And it did. We watched Pucci girls proliferate across Europe, geek chic take over the runways, and toe cleavage become disturbingly wanton. But as we step into 2026, the fashion landscape is shifting again.
The economy continues to grind, algorithms continue to churn, and we’re all a little more chronically online and alarmed at the state of the world than we were twelve months ago. So what’s next? Based on runway and street style trends, data from Pinterest and Tagwalk and common sense, we’re predicting a year where vintage sportswear replaces your Alo set, where everybody looks like they’ve read a book in the last 12-months, and where the pursuit of the perfect white t-shirt matters more than the archival bag everyone can reverse-search for a RealReal link. From sorbet-coloured vintage colours and prints to the scattered chaos of I Love LA‘s brainrot fashion, here are the five trends that will define how we dress in 2026.
Literary Chic:
If you’re scandalised by people reading performatively (we’re setting aside whether this is a reasonable thing to be scandalised by), get ready for it to get worse. According to Pinterest Predicts, fashion is taking notes from literature in 2026. Pinterest Predicts has signalled that “poetcore” and “vamp romance” will make a revival, as well as Victorian elements like lace and grandma brooches. This could be thanks to the influence of Wuthering Heights, which has reminded us of the power of a literary sex scene and a balloon sleeve.
That, or the idea of writing and reading has simply become exotic in our very distracted age. Along with lace, expect analogue accoutrements like fountain pens and watches and practical accessories perfect for storing notebooks in, like leather saddle bags, to pop up everywhere. We saw this at Simone Rocha Spring/Summer 2026, where ruffles, hoop skirts, and a Victorian palette of black, cream, and pale pink wafted down the runway and at Valentino, where gloomy, serpentine gothic beauties wore sheer lacey skirts with high necklines and grim expressions. Or, Acne Studios, where the runway and street outside was awash with stylish people dressed like creative writing majors with sensible, capacious bags perfect for stashing books (not Kindles) in.
Vintage Colours And Prints
In 2025, the Pucci girl reigned supreme when Hailey Bieber sent sales of Y2K-beloved Italian leisurewear brand Pucci skyrocketing when she wore it on her European vacation. Originally much loved by the old-Hollywood jet-set including Marilyn Monroe, Sophia Loren, and Jackie Kennedy, the brand was known for its bold, kaleidoscopic swirls of sorbet colour and has experienced waves of revivals—most notably in the 1970s and 2000s when celebrities like Jennifer Lopez, Nicole Richie, and Paris Hilton adored it.
It’s already made its mark on 2026 with Alabama Barker (Travis’s 20-year-old daughter) educating the masses on “nasty” Pucci in a TikTok with 13.6 million views at Christmas. Meanwhile, Tag Walk has identified a specific acid-lemon shade at almost every show on the Spring/Summer schedule, and colour blocking as a key trend. You don’t need to have access to the Pucci archives to indulge in the trend’s joie de vivre; we suspect we’ll gravitate to vintage prints and textures and vibrant clashing colours of all description this year.
Vintage Sportswear:
In 2025, we saw a geek chic aesthetic thanks to the eclectic and preppy looks on runways like Miu Miu Spring/Summer 25. It was Royal Tenenbaums coded, incorporating sportswear into grandma-coded pieces like Gwyneth Paltrow’s polo dress with loafers and an oversized fur coat. A ubiquitous trend was the vintage-inspired sports shorts worn with Tabis or loafers. In 2026 this trend is ramping up – Saint Laurent featured Charli xcx and a coterie of models in windbreakers and lacy shorts.
Former Vogue writer and author of popular substack Never Worn, Liana Satenstein, has declared vintage sportswear the perfect antidote to an Alo Yoga set that fills your brain with negative connotations.
More vintage athletic pieces are replacing your actual workout wardrobe (you can leave your Lululemons at the door) and making their way into your everyday wardrobe. Think of Gwyneth Paltrow and Madonna being papped on their way to the gym in London in 2007 wearing low-slung sweatpants and Ed Hardy prints.
Isabella Vrana has clocked over a million views with a TikTok showing how she styles her vintage activewear pieces for the actual gym, but you can also take notes from the fashion girlies and style your stirrup pants with slingbacks or your windbreakers with a lacy short if you fancy taking your finds for a night on the town.
Obscure Over Archival:
In December, fashion analyst Audrey Long published “Archival Bags Aren’t Cool Anymore,” arguing that fashion has lost its mystery. We’re in a personal taste crisis as platforms like Checkthetag and TikTok strip the mystique from classic pieces like the Balenciaga Motorcycle Bag or Galliano-era Dior Saddle. Everyone knows the year, the resale value, the rarity. DataButMakeItFashion tells us exactly how many other girlies own your bag. In 2026, as the economy grinds, style will shift toward finding the perfect white t-shirt or logoless bag that captures the imagination—pieces that don’t need prohibitive prices and restore the item’s mystique.
Brainrot Fashion
Comedian Rachel Sennott’s I Love LA was pitched as Girls for Gen Z, and largely through Jordan Firstman’s character—stylist Charli—it brought an aesthetic we’ve dubbed brainrot fashion off the streets and onto our screens. The vibe will be recognisable to anyone who works with a chronically online young person.
A mishmash of references from obscure archival pieces like Odessa A’zion’s character’s vintage t-shirt from band merch supplier Liquid Blue to ultra bodycon pieces from cult British designers like Dilara Fındıkoğlu and sweet designs from mid-range cool girl brands like Posse or huge pink furry jackets worn with sports shorts. It’s an aesthetic that draws on anime silhouettes, ASMR textures, and fashion literacy, all woven together into a tapestry that captures our current scattered mood, in which we consume content hurled at us from across competing algorithms and corners of the internet. It’s somehow slutty and geeky, clever and dumb, funny and, as Charli would say c*nt, all at once.
The post ELLE’s Guide To The Biggest Fashion Trends Of 2026 appeared first on ELLE.
