Introducing “Word on the Street,” a seasonal street style report tracking the standout looks, emerging trends, and defining fashion moments across the world’s major fashion capitals. Featuring a panel of plugged-in fashion industry voices on the ground at the major shows, the series offers an expert read on the season’s most compelling style movements and a sharper picture of what’s moving beyond the runway and into real life.
After a month of covering fashion week from attending New York to dialing in to write about Paris, I always leave September with street style moments glued to my brain and a running list of what the best-dressed showgoers kept reaching for. Some of it surprised me…did anyone see cummerbunds with jeans coming? And some of it was a reminder that a great white shirt still wins every time. The best street style trends are the ones that make you rethink pieces you already own, and this season offered plenty of inspiration.
In the past few seasons, we’ve seen a return of what we are calling an ode to personal style. This fashion month, many of the street style trends we saw were the finishing touch that makes an outfit feel exceptionally 2026. That final outfit-making piece that separates someone from being a fashion show goer as opposed to just another stylish Parisian. That common theme made the trends we’re rounding up below even more exciting to comb through.
To figure out which looks actually have staying power, we teamed up with Lyst to find out where the shopping data matched the trends we saw on the streets. because while a trend might catch our eye on the street, the real test is whether shoppers are paying attention, too. Then, we asked a panel of industry insiders for their read on the season. They told us all of the details on the trends that they saw at every fashion week they attended. The best street style trends Ahead, the seven trends that caught our eye, earned their place in the data, and have the industry insiders talking.
To help us sort out what’s worth trying from what’s best left on the sidewalk, we asked four industry experts who saw fashion month up close to weigh in. April Hennig, president of Moda Operandi, sat in on the shows and came back with plenty of opinions. Darrel Hunter is the street style photographer to know, and he spent fashion week on the ground capturing the best moments for @modehunter. Kristen Nichols, associate director of special projects at Who What Wear, was at the shows and saw it all. Rounding out the panel is Jalil Johnson, writer of the Substack newsletter Consider Yourself Cultured, who test-drives new trends for a living and knows exactly what’s catching on with real people.
If you attended any of the fashion weeks this season, you couldn’t head out for a show without noticing someone wearing a cummerbund over unpredictable wardrobe staples. It’s rare that you would think to style a cummerbund over a slouchy knit or a crisp shirt and jeans but the fashion crowd was doing it. “The cummerbund is the hot accessory of the moment, and during NYFW, I saw at least three a day,” says Jhonson, and Lyst backs him up, with demand jumping 65% from August to September thanks to Dries van Noten, Giorgio Armani, and Valentino. Nichols spotted it on the F/W 26 runways at The Row and Celine, adding, “It was also in the spring/summer 2027 collections of Kallmeyer and Polo Ralph Lauren, so we know it has staying power.”
Think romantic, slightly undone, Sunday afternoon in Paris. These days, just one flower pinned to a lapel changes the whole outfit. “There’s something wonderfully romantic and slightly nostalgic about it, but what makes it feel modern is the way women are styling it—pinned to an oversized blazer, a simple knit, or even at the waist,” says Hennig. As for why now, Johnson says, “I think the interest in floral brooches in particular is part of the Blazy Effect,” referencing Chanel’s recent show led by Creative Director Mathiu Blazy that playfully finished a few of the looks with a floral detail in the form of a brooch.
Cue crisp morning walks, a coffee in hand, and a flannel thrown over everything, or as Jhonson puts it, “Lumberjack cosplay!” Lyst demand for plaid and checked shirts is up 38% month over month and 60% quarter over quarter, with Burberry and Ralph Lauren behind the spike, and Hunter has a name for the look: “Luxury lumberjacks.” “A plaid shirt is a hero shopping item for fall 2026, and the street style scene only proved that further,” says Nichols.
This is the low-key, everything-goes-with-everything wardrobe that makes a 9 a.m. meeting and a 7 p.m. dinner feel like the same easy decision. “For the last several seasons, the style set has been investing in great basics,” says Nichols, while Hunter points to one standout pairing: “A tank top with the Versace skirt with the faces just works so well.” Jhonson sees it less as a trend and more as a constant, noting, “The essential elements of a great white T-shirt or button-down and jeans will never go out of style.”
Picture a plain white shirt, great trousers, and one necklace bold enough that nobody remembers anything else. “For the past few seasons, some clothes have felt simply too rudimentary,” says Jhonson, and Lyst’s numbers back him up, with demand for statement necklaces up 15% quarter over quarter. “A bold necklace against a simple white shirt or a great knit can become the entire point of the outfit,” says Hennig.
There’s a playful, slightly art-school energy to a flash of red sock between a loafer and a cropped trouser, and the street style set leaned all the way in. “Red was the color and the socks definitely captured attention,” says Hunter, and Lyst saw demand for colorful socks jump 62% quarter over quarter, while jazz shoes rose 72% (“Jazz shoes were literally everywhere. They’re a pair of shoes that certainly make for the perfect pairing to a statement sock. Thank you, Michael Rider!” says Johnson). He also has a theory on why: “Perhaps this goes hand in hand with the renewed focus on shoes, which are supposedly a recession indicator.”
The knit polo has the easy, members-only charm of a weekend in the Cotswolds, and it works just as well with a midi skirt as with your oldest jeans. “Preppy dressing is in full swing,” says Nichols, and Lyst agrees, with demand for knit polos up 14% quarter over quarter, led by Massimo Dutti, Ralph Lauren, and Tommy Hilfiger. Hennig says it “has the ease of a T-shirt but feels infinitely more considered,” while Hunter noticed “a lot of polos incorporated into creative layering.”
