Transparent trousers, gas masks and far more pockets than you probably need – what you will be wearing next year.

Even if you were sartorially nimble (or just blissfully ignorant) enough to dodge the ugly sneaker trend and swerve the wide-legged trousers this year, there’ll be plenty more wild and wonderful things to ill-advisedly buy into in 2019. But what exactly will next year’s clothing trends be?

To quote an overused platitude from Mr Oscar Wilde: “Fashion is a form of ugliness so intolerable that we have to alter it every six months.” It’s a good job he wasn’t alive for pre-fall. Nowadays, trends live and die by the fickle sword of the internet, and what’s going to be cool next year is anyone’s guess. Still, the runway remains a semi-reliable harbinger, and based on a helping hand from some key designers known for their influence, we’ve made a few, shall we say, creatively minded predictions about what men might be wearing next year. Here goes…

If 2018 gave us warcore (military-style flak jackets and riot-ready balaclavas), 2019 will be about the apocalyptic aftermath. Gas masks and Mad Max-esque biker helmets made an appearance at Undercover earlier in the year, and Mr Rick Owens – a designer who always marches to the beat of his own drum – showed an SS19 collection that featured alien-like masks and long sleeveless coats as well as wearable tents scaffolded with metal poles. Ideal, perhaps, for escaping all of the Brexit chaos and setting up camp elsewhere.

Dior Men’s pre-fall show in November was a panoply of space-age clothing that took place, appositely, in Tokyo. A gargantuan silver fembot sculpture by Japanese artist Mr Hajime Sorayama stood in the centre of the room, blasted with laser lighting, as models dressed in battleship-grey suiting and streetwear mixed with tailoring milled around at its feet. Menswear in general has seen a shift to the smarter side over the past few months, and this collection showed clearly how contemporary-tailoring that doesn’t feel out of step with the streetwear conversation can be done. Grab yourself a metallic silk bomber jacket and get ready for lift off.

While certain factions of menswear have been looking far into the cold hard future, others have been retreating to the soft romance of the past. The likes of CMMN SWDN and Maison Margiela have been steadily reviving a kind of old-world androgynous glamour over the past few seasons, and this means lots of sheer, barely-there fabrics. A good time then to invest in some underwear that you don’t mind showing to the world.

Streetwear is casual, is it not? It is all about hoodies, sweatpants and windbreakers, not smart shoes and trousers. Except, that is, if your brand is called Vetements. The brand has built a reputation on serving fashion rule-keepers their behinds by flouting, snapping and breaking conventions wherever they can. If you worship at the altar of Mr Demna Gvasalia, then, 2019 will be about mixing – as incongruously as possible – streetwear with formalwear. Smart patent Oxford shoes with intentionally-saggy bootcut jeans, or track pants with smart shirts are some combinations to try, if you dare.

If 2018 was the golden age of the belt bag, 2019 could well see it mutate into ever-wilder forms of wearable compartments. Extra-roomy cargo pants! Ten pockets on your coat! Anything is fair game. The souped-up pocket vest from Junya Watanabe (above), could be a taste of things to come. Very convenient for carrying all manner of things, until you forget in which of your 100 pockets you’ve put your house keys.

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