Here’s what trend forecasters think you’ll be wearing in 2025

By Leah Dolan, CNN

(CNN) — For many of us, 2025 stretches ahead as a giant unknown. For trend forecasters, it’s already mapped out — or some of it, at least.

Those in the business of predicting our next style choices have spent the fall collecting data they believe could foretell the months ahead. Fashion forecasters at WGSN, Heuritech and Pinterest Trends have been scouring catwalk shows, reading e-commerce data and analyzing social media posts to figure out what our wardrobes might look like in 2025.

From the surprising resurrection of the Gen Z-maligned skinny jean to an uptick in sophisticated sleepwear, here are five things experts believe you’ll be gravitating towards this year.

Picture-perfect PJs

Sleeping in your sleepwear is so 2024. This year, consumer trend forecasting company WGSN expects to see elegant matching pajamas as traveling outfits, beach cover-ups and more. Its e-commerce data shows that PJs were one of the strongest performing categories of vacation shopping.

“That’s not because we are all spending more time in bed when on vacation,” WGSN’s head of womenswear, Sara Maggioni, wrote by email to CNN. “But because sleepwear items are now seen as hyper-useful, multi-functional items for vacationers… It’s this versatility that makes them a winning item in a world where luggage fees are becoming more and more expensive.” This summer, “Game of Thrones” star Sophie Turner was spotted poolside in the Côte d’Azur wearing a set of blue and white striped pajamas; while model Joan Smalls wore a black and white pair out in Milan.

Bag charms

It seems more of us will be taking a leaf out of Jane Birkin’s book in 2025. According to Jane Collins, head of footwear and accessories for WGSN, the rise of the bag charm speaks directly to our current interest in personal expression and exclusivity.

“The power of this small but mighty item is its personalization and gifting potential, and its ability to cut across so many interest groups,” Collins wrote in an email to CNN. WGSN runway data revealed bag charms were up 5.6% year-on-year for Spring-Summer 2025, jingling on the runways of Stella McCartney, Fendi and Versace. For inspiration, look no further than Dua Lipa or Lily Allen’s carefully adorned Hermès Birkin bags.

A case for suede

AI forecaster Heuritech, which uses machine learning to analyze more than a million social media posts every day to see what consumers are wearing and sharing, has named suede as its top fabric to watch for 2025.

“At the end of 2024, suede had a total growth of 128% (on Instagram),” fashion analyst Frida Tordhag told CNN in a phone interview. “It’s a sign that it will maintain its influence into 2025, particularly into spring, when we will see an (increase) in the boho chic trend, which is all about romance and femininity.” Alongside the soft tactile leather, expect the pillars of boho chic to return: lashings of lace, chiffon, and slouchy silhouettes à la the Olsen twins in the early aughts.

The return of skinny jeans

If you haven’t already ditched your trusty second-skin denim pants, it might be time to dust them off.

“We expect to see a very slow-burn return in 2025 for the skinny jean,” said Susie Draffan, WGSN’s senior denim strategist. “We’re definitely in early signal testing territory here, but this season skinny jeans increased on the Spring-Summer 2025 catwalks for the first time in years.”

Draffan points to brands such as Coach, Diesel, Off-White and Maison Margiela as leading the charge, as well as a broader cultural return to the 2010s zeitgeist repackaged as “indie sleaze.”

“Don’t get too over-excited,” she warned. “It’s important to contextualise that this data uptick is from a tiny base. Wide-leg jeans very much remain the dominant silhouette.”

Cherry-coded

While color authority Pantone announced mocha mousse brown as 2025’s color of the year, Pinterest Trends have weighed in with a dissenting opinion. According to Pinterest Predicts, the platform’s upcoming trend report, cherry red is already taking over the moodboards of zoomersand millennials. The search term “cherry vibe” was up 325% this year, while the phrase “dark cherry red” shot up 235%. While on the press tour for “Emily in Paris” this September, Lily Collins was papped sporting a mock-croc cherry red Nina Ricci skirt suit. A month later, Tom Holland and Zendaya were seen coordinating the shade while out in New York.

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