Everything you need to know as you zip into the new season.

Fashion is one of our most immediate forms of self-expression. But if what we wear truly is a reflection of who we are, then what do this season’s biggest menswear trends tell us about what it means to be a man in 2017?

Perhaps, in embracing the colour pink, we can see a rejection of traditional masculine ideals. Or, in the renewed popularity of retro jackets, we can detect a nostalgic yearning for a simpler time.

Whatever you make of them, this season’s trends certainly are a colourful bunch, with pastel shades, camouflage at Dries Van Noten and even socks and sandals making an appearance at Prada. They speak to an increasingly liberated crowd, and reflect a newly experimental approach that men are taking towards the way they dress.

In that same spirit of experimentalism, we should add that none of the following trends should be considered a prerequisite to being well-dressed. Whether or not you buy into any or all of them remains wholly up to you. The best dressed man in the room will always be the one who is setting the trends, not following them. Nonetheless, here are the elements of style that we believe best describe what it means to be stylish in 2017.

Even the most forward-thinking menswear designers can’t resist the occasional glance backwards and, when it comes to reworking such classics as the Harrington, blouson and bomber jacket, who can blame them? Look out for 1950s-tinged examples at Prada, Dries Van Noten and Valentino.

This spring, real men wear pink. The season’s key shade comes in the form of a washed-out salmon-pink that can be seen on camp-collar shirts, chinos and sweatshirts from the likes of CMMN SWDN, Acne Studios and more.

Nothing says summer quite like a tropical-print, short-sleeved shirt, and there are plenty of them to choose from this season. Their billowing shapes look best tucked into a pair of pleated trousers, worn high at the waist.

Coming hot on the heels of last season’s zip-up tracksuits, the polo shirt is the latest sporting classic to receive a luxury makeover. Reworked in knitted cashmere and merino wool, this new take on the classic is best worn under a suit, as seen at Boglioli and Canali.

For a pattern that was designed by the military to blend in, camo has a way of grabbing your attention. It comes out of hiding again this season, appearing at Dries Van Noten as a textile camo, Prada as an acid-neon camo and at Givenchy, where it’s been mixed up with a dollar bill insignia. All in all, it’s the pattern to be seen in this spring.

In a move that many will see as acknowledgement of the unspoken truth of summer – that it’s not always sunny 100 per cent of the time – designers such as Marni, Lanvin and Burberry are embracing the lightweight summer coat. Wear it on a cool evening over a fine-knit sweater or linen blazer.

A nomadic, wanderer’s spirit runs through this season’s collections, and perhaps no more conspicuously than at Prada, where the once-reviled sports sandal finds itself back in the spotlight. Elsewhere, the humble pool slide is taking off, with high-end reincarnations coming from Balenciaga, Bottega Veneta and Brunello Cucinelli.

This season’s hues have a distinctly culinary flavour, with duck egg, pistachio, violet, salmon and lemon sorbet all featuring heavily. It’s a palatable pastel palette that’s bound to come into its own as the temperature begins to soar.

After a decade or more as the predominant silhouette in men’s style, has the skinny leg finally had its day? If the relaxed, pleated trousers on display at Lanvin, Bottega Veneta and Balenciaga are anything to go by, the answer might just be yes.

Half loafer, half slipper, these hybrid shoes feature soft, collapsible heels, which mean you don’t have to bend over or use a shoe horn to put them on. Surely, this is one trend that everyone can get behind. Look for standout versions from Gucci and Maison Margiela.

Shop The Trends here