2026 Signals

Observations on culture, menswear, sport and creativity.

Hello,
And happy new year.

Wishing you, your family and friends a year that brings all that you’re asking for.

With a new year underway, and part of my job being to pay attention to culture, taste, and how people are behaving, I wanted to put a few thoughts down on paper.

I’m really trying to avoid saying trend forecast but couldn’t think of a different way to frame it. So I didn’t say it, but it’s sort of that.

Something we can come back to and test my predictions later in the year..

It’s a mix of sports, menswear, lifestyle and creativity.

Let’s get into it:

The World Cup is a disaster… for real fans

If the draw is anything to go off, the 2026 World Cup could be the final nail in the coffin for FIFA.

This tournament will grab the attention of casual North American fans. But once they realise their nation probably won’t make the top 16, that attention fades.

For real fans, it already feels off. Corporate. Overproduced. More like a global activation than a representation of the World’s Game. Superbowl-isation of the World Cup, won’t end well.

That disconnect is hard to ignore.

Menswear goes tailored but relaxed

We see a return to tailoring in menswear, but not in the traditional sense.

Continue seeing wide pleated trousers. Tighter, but not tight, t-shirts. Everything fitting like it should.

Think Don Johnson in Miami Vice. The proportions, the confidence, just without the tropical palette and blazers.

Polished, but lived in with room for activities.

Marketing goes offline

The cost of Meta ads keeps rising and consumers have lost trust in social platforms.

So budgets move.

I think we see more money, especially from bigger brands, going into offline activations. Physical placements. Installations. Things you can’t scroll past but what eventually makes its way organically to social from people taking photos of it.

This also becomes a way around not being officially involved in events. Be close enough, in the vicinity, and people assume you’re part of it.

Presence over permission.

Design goes analog

With the rise of AI, I think we start to see designers flex more.

The saying “you’ve got to know the grid to break the grid” becomes truer than ever. As AI gets relied on for creative output, a lot of work starts to feel templated. Clean. Correct. Boring.

Designers push back by making work that feels unmistakably human. Less structure. More hand-drawn elements. More texture and imperfection.

Not anti-technology. Just visibly human.

“Building a moat”

Becomes the buzzword of the branding industry in 2026.

And to be fair, it’s not wrong.

Brands are finally realising they actually do need to separate themselves from the pack. Distribution is easy. Attention isn’t. Standing for something specific matters again.

That said, the phrase itself will be said to death. Decks, pitches, LinkedIn posts.

The brands actually building real moats probably won’t talk about it at all, they will show and not tell.

Appreciating the art

The best example is the continued rise of listening bars around the world. Spaces where people go just to listen to music.

This isn’t really about music, though. It’s about attention to detail and appreciating craft across all mediums.

I think this mindset spreads across all human-made creative acts.

Print media is back. Nearly better than ever

You’ve heard me bang on about this before, but I think the signal keeps getting stronger.

Magazine subscriptions continue to rise, in a similar way to vinyl sales. Not because they’re convenient, but because they’re not.

Print becomes a conscious choice. A break from algorithms. A physical expression of taste and a sign of a consciously designed lifestyle.

Let me know what you agree with, and what you don’t.

As always, thanks for reading, and thanks for being on this journey with me.

2026 is going to be fun.

Hayden