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In the GQ offices, the tail end of spring means one thing: It’s time to start thinking about summer—and more specifically, the summer 2024 fashion trends we’re eyeing this season. Nothing will ever replace the infallible warm-weather essentials that we look to year after year, of course. But those essentials merely represent the foundation of an elite summer wardrobe, a jumping off point to help you splash into even drippier fits. Because once you’ve set your foundation, you’re free to explore the swerves, flexes, and just-kooky-enough style moves that promise to make this summer even hotter—in the best way possible. So we tapped a who’s who of our colleagues to dish on the summer trends they’re stoked about right now, and jotted them all down here as friendly suggestions, if not a selfish sort of manifesting. Enjoy.
7 Red-Hot Summer Trends We’re Eyeing
Airy Checked Shirts
There’s a very specific genus of regular-ass button-up I’ve been favoring lately. It’s got a normal collar, not a camp collar. It’s checked or plaid, generally in darker neutral colors, not striped. It’s big and lightweight, maybe with a touch of linen in the mix. And crucially, it looks like something an extra would’ve worn on a canceled-after-one-season teen drama in 1997. These shirts are comfortable, reliable, and just put-together enough as to not feel totally sloppy—kind of my sweet spot in the summertime. I like to wear ’em with only a couple of buttons done up, all the better to show off the pleated shorts or slouchy trousers or whatever else I’ve got going on down below. —Yang-Yi Goh
Yacht-Ready Shoes
Boat shoes are making a big splash right now. Sure, back in the day they might’ve been divisive, but it was only a matter of time before the preppy pendulum swung back in their favor. Unlike the nautical shoe’s last crest, though, which arrived on a wave of skinny jeans, 2024’s comeback is buoyed by flowy, pooling pants and generally baggier silhouettes. —Gerald Ortiz
Ginormous Shorts
After years of 5-inch-inseam dominance, the shorts pendulum is swinging in the other direction. And what a swing it is! In 2024, hemlines are dropping faster than voter confidence, soaring past the knee, flirting with (gasp) capri territory, and generally offering a welcome course-correction to that one picture of Harrison Ford in Cannes you keep seeing online. Go full ’90s skate rat in a pair of calf-grazing jorts, or make the quiet luxury crowd mad in Willy Chavarria’s exquisitely swishy pleated-jersey joints. —Avidan Grossman
High-Flying Shades
Aviator sunglasses never went anywhere (see: the silhouette’s resurgence following the Top Gun: Maverick box-office bonanza), but this summer will see the return of even more of the classic metal frames, especially those that take the usual teardrop shape and update it to read little less Tom Snooze. —Tyler Chin
Baseball Jerseys—Licensed and Not
I’m not sure how much intel you can actually glean from sidewalk vintage racks, but anecdotally, it sure seems like the baseball jersey business is booming. The real-deal mesh joints typically reserved for batting practice or spring training look especially fresh right now, but they’re not the only versions getting a call from the bullpen. Whether you rock one open over a tee or with your clavicles fully exposed like you’re playing for the 2023 Phillies, they’re a short-sleeve changeup (sorry) from the typical camp shirt fare. —Reed Nelson
Not-So-Sweaty Sweaters
Most people look forward to summer as a time to bask in the sun and wear as little as possible. But me? A Canadian who thrives in the cold and tends to break out with eczema the minute I forget to slather on sunscreen? I spend the warmer months patiently waiting for those blessed breezy evenings where I can throw a light sweater on and bask in the pure joy that layering never fails to deliver. —YG
Dress(ier) Shorts
Our current golden age of shorts means all styles—and inseams!—are welcome. So it might sound redundant to say that shorts are trending this summer. Dress shorts, though, offer a riff on the silhouette that’s a bit more novel than, say, sky-high short-short or jorts. Instead, they’re a refreshing spin that jumps off the corporate-core wave, and the easiest way to add some oomph to a simple white tee and sneakers, your probable go-to outfit for these blistering months. —GO
Fishy Footwear
We called it this past spring, but now it feels even more true: It’s going to be a huge season for fisherman sandals. The geezer-adjacent slip-on has always been cool—your grandpa probably wore a pair on his honeymoon—but its vibe feels just right for this particular moment: dressy enough to class up a vintage tee and jorts, casual enough to make that breezy linen suit feel beach wedding-ready. The venerable French cobblers at Paraboot make a version that looks like a close relative of your cap-toes, but you don’t have to drop generational guap to get your feet into a pair: Gardenheir sells a pleasantly earthy riff for less than 200 bucks. —AG
Retro Hikers
Performance-oriented hiking shoes broke with their trail-bound origins years ago, and considering both their utility and availability, it’s unlikely that they’re going anywhere. Right now, though, the clock is turning the other way. Sure, Salomon and Merrell are still pumping out futuristic heaters, but old-school, earth-toned, low-top hikers are going ballistic—and they might be sicker than their techier counterparts. —RN
Rough-and-Tumble Tailoring
These’ll work at a summer wedding in a pinch, sure. But the two-pieces I’m coveting most at the moment tend to feel a little more casual and rumpled—better served with a vintage tee and canvas kicks than a tie and loafers. —YG
Pants With Patina
Fashion guys have always fetishized patina—the character that clothing develops after years of use—but these days, menswear is so damn patinated your grandma might ask it to go home and change. To lend Kapital’s work trousers the look of an ultra-rare vintage grail, Japan’s premier denim whizzes pre-fade each pair and then painstakingly attach a couple of faux-slapdash patches, like a madcap science experiment gone implausibly right. Much to your grandma’s chagrin, the patina does, in fact, cost extra—but thanks to a growing crop of dialed vintage dealers, you can sidestep the designer markup altogether and go straight to the source: someone else’s closet. Patinate yourself carefully, though, fellas; if you’re rocking the patchwork painter pants, you probably don’t need the mended chore jacket, too. —AG
A Hit of Mary Jane
Cool-girl-coded shoes have officially crossed the menswear rubicon, which means it’s time for Mary Janes to make their debut on your feet. The best of the bunch make you look like an innocent little school boy, but pair them with any of the other summer trends here—a pair of pleated dress shorts, say, and an airy checked shirt—and you’ll look like the cutest kid in first grade. —TC
Sporty Caps
In 2019, my colleague Yang-Yi Goh broke the biggest story in millinery since this Bruno Mars spread: everyone at GQ HQ was obsessed with a nondescript Nike tennis hat. I thought of Yang when I dusted off my own Dri-Fit topper a few weeks ago; chalk it up to Challengers mania or tennis’ fashion-pilled rising stars, but the hat’s smaller brim, sleeker finishes, and sportier bent looked right. Even the Italian fabric maestros at Loro Piana are getting in on the action: Their signature wooly baseball caps—New Era snapbacks for the .01%—now come done up in a lightweight waterproof fabric, and in a range of discreet hues. Time to give that musty trucker a break. —AG
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