The trouser category is undergoing a strategic transformation for autumn/winter 2025-26. Recent retail displays and runway directions reflect a significant shift towards refined silhouettes and sensorial fabrics, challenging the dominance of wide-leg styles. Market data suggests that these changes are in line with the changing aesthetics of the workplace and the growing demand for versatile clothing that seamlessly transitions to different occasions. Designers are combining business practicality with trend-forward innovation through unexpected fabric treatments and proportion engineering. This analysis examines the key factors reshaping the bottoms assortment for the upcoming season.
Table of Contents
Slim Silhouette Revival
Tactile Textures Promote Premiumization
Heritage Shape Reconstruction
Wide-Leg Recalibration
Conclusion
slim silhouette revival
Despite #WideLegTrousers receiving 122.9 million views on TikTok (a 98% increase year-on-year), retail analytics tell a different story. According to EDITED market data, slim-fit trousers are now achieving a 15% full-price sell-through rate at retailers such as Marks & Spencer in the UK – outperforming wide-leg trousers by 5 percentage points. This difference between social engagement and shopping behaviour points to an important insight: consumers engage with volume-based styles digitally, but invest in sleek silhouettes for everyday wear. The tapered carrot trouser exemplifies this shift, increasing its market share by 11.5 percentage points year-on-year.
Brands are designing this silhouette for contemporary power dressing. Copenhagen brand Ganni recently launched its “Executive” tailored trousers featuring a 24cm leg opening and internal stretch panels. Within three weeks of release, the style accounted for 87% of sales on Net-a-Porter, with product reviews citing “unexpected comfort” as a key reason for purchase. This matches data from Google Trends, which showed a 45% year-on-year increase in searches for “comfort work trousers” in the fourth quarter of 2020. The new slim profile balances professional polish with all-day functionality, replacing limited slim cuts through strategic additions at the knees and ankles.
