FROM OUR FEBRUARY ISSUE: CHANGING TIMES
The entire MR team proudly presents our February 2025 issue. If you haven’t received a hard copy, please page through our digital version, and we’ll continue to post individual stories here on MR-mag.com. If you haven’t been getting MR in print, be sure that you are on our mailing list for future issues by completing this form.
No matter what trend suits your customer, you’ll find it at the Chicago Collective this season. To use a Mark Twain quote, “It is hopeless for the occasional visitor to try to keep up with Chicago—she outgrows his prophecies faster than he can make them. She is always a novelty; for she is never the Chicago you saw when you passed through the last time.”
What are our prophecies for Fall/Winter 2025?
- We’re seeing quiet luxury continue, and with that, the double-breasted jacket, in both tailored clothing and outerwear, will once again take center stage.
- Fuller trousers? Soon, yes, but not quite yet. Ease your customer into the idea with a slightly fuller silhouette in soft, comfortable fabrics.
- Knitwear, especially sweaters, seems more important than ever, and we love nautically-inspired silhouettes. Where last year we were all about stepping out of sneakers and into loafers, this season we’re headed into still-relaxed, easy footwear.
- Finally, an overall trend: for every action, there’s an equal and opposite reaction, so we see Bohemian style spinning off of quiet luxury, rendered in soft, easy-to-wear fabrics and silhouettes.
Double Barrelled
The double-breasted jacket (or coat) reflects a newly relaxed, more nuanced take on style this season. While still projecting strength and virility, it’s also a nod towards easy elegance, bringing sartorial splendor to just about any outfit.
Perfect Knits
It’s time to get guys into something with just a little more pizazz. Classic fisherman and marine-inspired looks still impart a preppy, sporty charm, functional and handsome, but also provide a certain bad-boy, “you
know you want to touch this” magnetism.
Pants’ Dance
While the voluminous pants of the runway may not be catching stride with customers just yet, men are ready for something soft and comfortable, and, as Dave Sweedler at Zanella says, saleable! Coming up next? “Offered in the right fabric, with the right drape and styling—think Gene Kelly in An American in Paris—I believe this is a great retro look for Spring ’26,” says Sweedler.
True Shoes
Nothing speaks louder for a man than his shoes, and it’s time for statement-making footwear. Sneakers will always have a place in our hearts, but it’s time to step up to something a skosh more formal. Not ready for derbys or Oxford lace-ups just yet? These casual styles will ease the transition to a new administration.
Bohemian Groove
Think of it less as a revolution and more as a very cool way to be alternative and non-conformist. It’s about bringing a level of controlled, careful cool to the conversation without losing sight that the medium (in this case, the wardrobe) is the message.