We’re barreling toward the end of winter, which means it’s finally time to start thinking about what you’re going to wear this spring. And while it’ll no doubt be a relief to banish your puffiest Costanza parkas to the back of the closet, spring weather can be fickle, heavy on wind and rain and dramatic swings in temperature. Which means that in order to take full advantage of light-jacket season—that most glorious and fleeting of windows in the menswear calendar—you’ll need a deep and diverse outerwear bench that’s ready for any possible situation, meteorological or otherwise.
To get a read on which jackets matter most right now, we tapped a handful of menswear insiders for their picks and predictions for spring 2026. The consensus? Stock up on outerwear that walks the line between function and finesse—a confident mix of sleek silhouettes and handsome materials.
Sweet, Nostalgic Suede
For Sophie Jordan, the menswear buying director at Mytheresa, this season’s best jackets all have one thing in common: suede. Jordan correlates the material’s ascent with a renewed obsession with tactility in menswear. “You get this very luxurious feeling from suede,” she says.
The suede revival marks “a return to people wearing fabrics that feel more alive,” agrees menswear content creator Drew Joiner. It’s a quiet rebuke of all things synthetic, a throwback to a time when clothes hung with unmissable heft and texture.
And lately, designers have used the smoothest, supplest form of leather to experiment with new silhouettes, sharper cuts, and winking details—like the studded heart appliqués on the Bode jacket below. “Brands were playing with it more this season,” Jordan says. “There were new shapes coming through, a little more fun in the detailing.”
