Why Does Every Fashion Person Want to Look Like a Fisherman Right Now?
First, there was the coastal grandma, then there was Brat summer, and now, there is… the fisherman?
No, really. Looking like a fisherman is somehow the ruling aesthetic right now, and despite "cores" and "aesthetics" often feeling a bit randomly generated by an algorithm, this one actually does feel rooted in the reality of the runway. At Bottega Veneta's F/W 24 show, models carried woven purses in the shape of fish. That same season, Loewe models wore fisherman sandals, and at Miu Miu, models wore swimsuit shorts styled with long trench coats and sandals wrapped with sporty rope cords.
Bottega Veneta Fall/Winter 2024
Loewe Spring/Summer 2024
Now, we're starting to see the look trickle into how people want to dress every day, and it makes sense if you think about where we are style-wise. There's been a movement away from quiet luxury. Everyone appears to want to get a bit louder, and this past season, maximalism started making a slow comeback as busy prints, bold colors, and funky textures took over the runway. In a world that's getting hard to be heard in, people are dressing loudly.
Miu Miu Spring/Summer 2024
Miu Miu Spring/Summer 2024
The fisherman aesthetic, though, is somewhere between quiet luxury and full-blown eccentric maximalist. It's refined and not too much while still having a bit of quirk and wit. It's preppy with chunky cable-knit sweaters, striped tees, and boat shoes. But it's also a little funny with seashell- and fish-shaped accessories and idiosyncratic styling that doesn't take itself too seriously.
Ralph Lauren Spring/Summer 2025
Ralph Lauren Spring/Summer 2025
Even if you don't subscribe to aesthetics, dipping your toe into the fisherman look is a fun way to reimagine how to wear the basic pieces in your wardrobe. Below, see all the key pieces you'll need to shop.
Boat Shoes
Duffle Coats and Raincoats
Fisherman Sandals
Fishnet Bags
Sea-Themed Accessories
Cable-Knit Sweaters

Tara Gonzalez is a senior fashion and social editor at WhoWhatWear. where she is interested in exploring the intersection of fashion and culture and why we are drawn to wearing the things we wear and what that says about the world we live in. Previously she worked as a senior fashion editor at Harper's Bazaar. When she isn't writing trend deep dives for WWW, she's working on her newsletter on Substack, Cult Classic, which explores the very best fashion in film and television. She has a degree in creative writing from The University of Pennsylvania. She lives in Brooklyn with her boyfriend and pug Bjork, the later of which has a very extensive collection of dog-sized Sandy Liang sweaters.