These 6 Trends Dominated the Streets at NYFW

Rather than reserving the wide waist sash for a tuxedo, the fashion set is using it almost like an oversize belt, layering it over trousers and more casual separates. It creates definition at the waist without requiring an entirely fitted outfit. And this wasn’t just a street-style styling trick. Daniella Kallmeyer and TWP both incorporated cummerbund-inspired elements into their Spring 2027 collections, giving the traditionally formal accessory a more chill spin. 

This season, Tommy Hilfiger leaned heavily into relaxed proportions for Spring 2027, including oversize trousers and roomy layers. Ralph Lauren approached suiting from the opposite direction, showing sharply constructed pantsuits inspired by the first women’s suit the designer ever created. Together, they made a pretty convincing argument that tailoring (whether slouchy or structured) is going to be a major part of how we’re dressing next spring.

Bermuda shorts have been slowly creeping back to the scene, but this season the coolest versions were even roomier, hitting at or around the knee and styled with everything from button-downs to blazers. At the Spring/Summer 2027 shows, Tommy Hilfiger supersized Bermuda shorts alongside trousers and other preppy staples for his Plaza Hotel show, while Veronica Beard paired crisp white Bermuda shorts with a matching blazer. This fall and winter, pair them with boots and suede ballet flats.

Barrel jeans have had a very good run, but if the streets of New York Fashion Week are any indication, denim is straightening out a touch. Between shows, I spotted editors, influencers and showgoers trading exaggerated curved silhouettes for classic straight-leg jeans, styled with everything from oversize blazers to simple tees. The runways backed up denim’s return to more familiar territory, too. 7 For All Mankind put jeans at the center of its early-2000s-inspired collection, while Ralph Lauren showed denim ripped, faded, baggy and low-slung. The appeal of a straight leg, though, is how easily it works with virtually everything already hanging in your closet. Throw on an oversize blazer and heels for a polished look, or add a T-shirt and sneakers and you’ve got your weekend uniform.

This season, the fashion crowd opted for longer silhouettes that stretched toward the ankle, often styling them with relaxed button-downs, oversize jackets and simple tops. Long, lean skirts also showed up on the Spring 2027 runways, with Calvin Klein making the pencil skirt a foundational piece of its collection, while Veronica Beard paired an oversize floral-lace pencil skirt with a matching cropped jacket. If both the sidewalks and runways are any indication, the pencil skirt is officially out of the office.

Matching is overrated; or at least that seemed to be the consensus this season. Street style was full of people mixing prints that, on paper, had no business being together: stripes with florals, checks with animal prints and plenty of color thrown in for good measure. And the runways were just as willing to clash. Christian Siriano played with bold patterns and prints for Spring 2027. The trick I noticed on the streets? Wear it like you meant it. Confidence may be the one thing that actually has to match.