Most of us can become a bit avoidant when it comes to trends. And hey, we get it. Who wants to wear something just because everybody else is? Still, trends happen for a reason – usually because of some social shift or change in mood or weather (see the current surge of chore jackets for a practical example). Perhaps it’s the political turmoil and ripple of populism that’s epidemic at the moment, or the hope of squeezing out the last vestiges of summer as we slide into autumn, but there’s one trend that’s been making itself particularly at home in men’s wardrobes lately: tie-dye.

This isn’t a new trend in menswear. Fashion heavyweights including Comme des Garçons, Dries Van Noten, Off-White, 1017 ALYX 9SM and AMIRI have all courted the psychedelic pattern in their recent collections. We’ve also spotted plenty of fashionable guys on Instagram taking a DIY approach to add a bit of life to old T-shirts.

The trippy print seems particularly popular with Los Angeles-based brands (see Palm Angels, BILLY and The Elder Statesman), presumably because it’s the kind of thing that’s become part of the skating scene uniform there. And then there are the celebrities. Messrs Justin Bieber and Jonah Hill are perhaps the most obvious proponents of the trend, with the former donning a Nike tie-dye tracksuit on a date with his wife, Ms Hailey Baldwin, late last year. We won’t say that’s the most enticing endorsement for tie-dye you’ll see, but if you’ve ever looked at your wardrobe and thought it needed loosening up a little, this is a great place to start.

In terms of making it work for you, wearing tie-dye is not as hard as you might imagine. The easiest thing to do is to pair it with something plain. A tie-dye T-shirt or sweater will work well with a pair of dark jeans or neutral chinos, and if you’re brave enough to try out tie-dye trousers, it’s as simple as teaming them with a white tee. Also, it’s the cheeriest, brightest and most optimistic trend we’ve seen for a while, so if, like us, you’ve spent too much time getting bogged down by the news recently, well, you know what to do.