It's Official: Everyone With Good Style Will Wear These Anti-Trend Pants in 2026

Shop the polished-as-can-be style.

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Gracie Abrams wearing a black blazer and gray trousers at the Coco Chanel event in Los Angeles
(Image credit: Stefanie Keenan/WireImage/Getty Images)
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Truth be told, I can't think of anything more, well, dull than a pair of black trousers. That doesn't mean that we shouldn't wear them, though. They're the most essential of wardrobe staples. But if you want something a bit fresher and more interesting, the trousers Gracie Abrams just wore might pique your interest.

While attending a dinner in celebration of Chanel's new Coco Crush jewelry collection in West Hollywood this week, Abrams, who's the brand's newly appointed fine-jewelry ambassador, showed up in a Chanel S/S 26 look that was as cool as it was elegant. It included a colorless black jacket with the bottom buttons undone and the anti-trend pants that every well-dressed person will realize they need to own this year if they don't already: gray pleated trousers. Sure, they're not groundbreaking, but they complement even more colors than black pants do, and they're just as elevated but a bit cooler and more unexpected. To finish the look, Abrams wore a brown leather belt and pointed cap-toe heels. I have no notes—the off-the-runway look was perfect, thanks in large part to the elite anti-trend pleated gray trousers.

Scroll on to see Abrams's Chanel look, along with more gray pleated trouser outfit inspiration, and shop a handful of excellent pairs to add to your closet.

Gracie Abrams's Outfit

Gracie Abrams wearing a black blazer and gray trousers at the Coco Chanel event in Los Angeles

(Image credit: Stefanie Keenan/WireImage/Getty Images)

On Gracie Abrams: Chanel S/S 26 outfit and shoes; Chanel Coco Crush Jewelry

More Outfits Featuring the Pants

Gray pants outfits

(Image credit: @cocoschiffer)

Gray pants outfits

(Image credit: @annabelrosendahl)

Shop Relaxed Gray Trousers

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Allyson Payer
Allyson Payer
Senior Editor

Allyson is a senior editor for Who What Wear. She joined the company in 2014 as co-founder Katherine Power's executive assistant and over the years has written hundreds of stories for Who What Wear. Prior to her career in fashion, Allyson worked in the entertainment industry at companies such as Sony Pictures Television. Allyson is now based in Raleigh, North Carolina, and is originally from Baton Rouge, Louisiana. She holds a BFA in theater arts. Her path to fashion may not have been linear, but based on the number of fashion magazines she collected as a child and young adult, it was meant to be.