The coziness trend in fashion has reached a new peak: clothes in the style of pajamas and nightgowns are popular – and among the masses. This might seem surprising at first glance. However, there are a few good reasons why this happened.
Too stylish for bed
Visually, it makes sense not to hide some types of pajamas in the dark bedroom: after all, they are shirts and soft, flowing, chic trousers, often made of shimmering silk and wonderful velvet. Elaborate piped seams and a breast pocket on the shirt (like the one for the pocket square) have probably always puzzled some people: why do you need them for sleeping?
And anyway, the pinstripes: some two-piece pajama combinations are even reminiscent of a chic suit of an illustrious mafioso or the tops of the best Sunday shirt. Negligées and babydolls are often trimmed with lace.
They are all now available – clearly advertised on the catwalk and in advertising for everyday use during the day in and out of the house instead of for sleeping – from the popular brands for the broad market, but also from the big fashion houses. Prada, Michael Kors and Dolce & Gabbana, to name just a few.
By the way, for the fashion magazine “Elle”, pajama pants are “the pants trend for summer 2026”. “Pajama pants are perhaps the most comfortable, airy and convertible pants this year. They are extremely fun, look good and are extremely comfortable to wear – you really can’t expect more from a pair of pants,” according to the fashion experts’ analysis.
A limitless fashion
Why has a bed look of all things become so popular? “The pajama look negates the separation between leisure and work, private and public, indoors and outdoors and thus signals that you lead a life in which these boundaries do not exist,” explains Carl Tillessen, trend analyst and managing director of the German Fashion Institute in Berlin.
In his opinion, many people dreamed of such a life. With a “job with 100 percent home office, 100 percent flexitime, no representative obligations and no dress code – the whole thing is best done in latitudes where the climate outside is just as mild as inside,” explains Tillessen.
And there is a backstory: the pandemic and lockdown paved the way for fashion. Since then, many people have had a working environment wholly or partially based in their home office. Among other things, this brought sweatpants and training clothes to the forefront – not just for lounging on the couch or for training. Even if it was hardly imaginable before, from then on it was actually just a small fashion leap to pajamas.
Chicer than the usual jogging pants
The further we move away from the constraints of the pandemic, the more there is a need for chicer looks again. This means that the cuts and comfort should remain, but no longer the lazy look. This is where the current fashion trend comes in with the often very chic looking no-longer-just-pyjamas combinations.
“In many areas, the endlessly comfortable clothing that people have become accustomed to during the lockdown has become the new normal. But there is often only a thin line between comfort and neglect,” explains fashion expert Tillessen.
And he advises, based on a famous quote from the fashion designer Karl Lagerfeld: “To be above all suspicion in this regard, we recommend freshly ironed pajamas made of silk satin with piping, which make it unmistakably clear that – in contrast to the wearers of baggy TV sweatpants – you have not yet lost control of your life.”
“The lockdown look is being taken to the next level in other areas too,” adds trend analyst Tillessen. “Athleisure” – i.e. sportswear for leisure, the office or other areas outside of sport – will become “athlegance”. This is “a variant with more elegant colors, more elegant materials and more sophisticated cuts that is more suitable for a grand entrance than for watching all the episodes of a series one after the other,” says Tillessen.
