Sarah Magliocco: Here's what we might be wearing in 2025

Fashion journalist Sarah Magliocco brings us through the next wave of fashion trends.

2025 is almost upon us, and looking back on the biggest fashion trends of 2024 there have been some stand out looks that shaped how we shopped and styled out wardrobes over the course of the year.

From Copenhagen Fashion Week directing our silhouettes, to old favourites coming back into style, it's been a year of newness and nostalgia combined, and the new year follows a similar thread.

But don't feel pressure to go out and overhaul your wardrobe so soon: there are plenty of styles coming our way in the new year that you probably already have in your closet.

Taking inspiration from the past year and converting it into new energy for the fashion year to come, here is a forecast of some upcoming trends for 2025:

Scandi style

Styling tricks from Copenhagen became the fashion fundamentals in 2024, as trends from the ever authoritative Copenhagen Fashion Weeks went global. Playful and experimental looks like skirts and dresses worn over jeans, playing with volume and silhouettes, and wearing clashing colours together like red with pink and cobalt blue with green were ways we saw it in 2024, and moving into 2025 we will continue to look to Scandi style for guidance.

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Stockholm may become the city du jour for fashion, which embraces more of a unisex, cool and pared back aesthetic while still holding space for interesting details and silhouettes. Think stone washed jeans, leather jackets, ruffle hem skirts, mesh and unique boots, topped off with an oversized handbag. Look to Stockholm based brands like EYTYS and BITE Studios or Verona Farrell’s social media accounts at @secondhandhuns for inspiration on how to style your existing wardrobe in the Nordic direction.

Pretty in pink

Red was arguably the colour of 2025, with cherry motifs, red tights and fluffy red cardigans dominating our social media feeds. For the new year, pale pink - think Glinda in Wicked - and soft yellows will be all the rage. Pastels for Spring certainly aren't groundbreaking, but they are predictable. Powdery pink and butter yellow may be our new 'pop of red,’ and can be added simply with some socks or a beaded bag.

Plaid please

Leopard print made its long anticipated comeback as the print of the moment in 2024. Most commonly paired with red, this print will stick around into the new year, and many people see leopard print as a type of neutral that is always in style. There is almost always some kind of animal print in fashion at any given moment, and rather the leopard being replaced with another - though zebra print has been tipped as a potential overtaker - plaid may raise its head as the print we all want to wear.

Tartan and plaid, like leopard and cheetah print, are often styled in a 90s fashion with easy staples like denim and white-shirts. Leopard print imbues a sense of comfort and nostalgia, just like plaid does, and that familiarity - coupled with the fact that most of us have a plaid shirt or skirt already tucked away in our wardrobes - makes plaid and tartan a great contender for 2025.

Big bags

It’s already been a thing for quite a while, but big slouchy bags are the look of the moment for the new year. Dig out that decade-old brown leather beauty that fits everything, or scavenge through your local charity shops for a take on the trend - the bigger the better, and bonus points for fun details like studs or fringe.

Mini shorts

In their Spring 2022 collection, Miu Miu debuted a micro-micro-mini skirt that seemingly broke the internet, appearing on magazine covers, celebrities and influencers, and heralding endless discussions about the return of the miniskirt silhouette. While hemlines go up and down like Irish temperatures, shorts have been taking a turn towards the oversized for quite a while, with longer tailored shorts, cargo shorts and ‘jorts’ - long jean shorts - being popular.

However, for 2025 shorts will be taking a Miu Miu like turn upwards, with mini shorts in all styles and textures making a return. Hot pants come around every decade or so - a 2010 sequinned pair I had spring to mind - but for the new year, they will be worn casually, with tights and tall boots topped off with baggy t-shirts and slouchy cardigans.