While fall fashion has traditionally always been associated with sweater weather and the return of outerwear, changing weather in many parts of the world means that the warmer season lasts longer and September is not yet the time to break out the warm clothes.
For those who fly or otherwise adventure regularly, travel fashion already needs to be adaptable to different weather zones.
As September and October increasingly move from shoulder season to some of the most popular times of the year to book a trip, travel fashion trends identified by publications like Vogue and Who What Wear this year include easily-packable sweaters, wide-leg pants that can be turned into a variety of outfits and flats in neutral colors that can be one’s main or even only footwear on a short trip. On the luggage side, expandable packing cubes and foldable travel bags are also perennially popular due to their space-saving utility.
Long flight pants, nautical jackets and packable luggage: some fall 2026 travel fashion trends
Originally launched for the cooler weather Norwegian spring and summer, the new Helly Hansen Marine Heritage collection offers a selection of nautical-style light rain jackets that are a particularly good option for between-season weather.
California swimwear brands La Blanca and Body Glove also sell both swimwear and transitional pieces such as wide-leg puckered up pants and various tunic and caftan cover-ups that are designed to be easy to stuff into a suitcase.
Related: The TikTok luggage video is actually completely wrong
Another emerging brand that was recently featured on Oprah’s Favorite Things is K’lani: the hair ties in earthy colors and with whimsical accents are designed to also be worn as bracelets that one can pop off and use to tie up one’s hair while on th go.
Cincha Travel
Very practical for travel, expandable bags and luggage are having a major moment
For those traveling with kids, Colorado-based DAGS launched a bag brand after realizing that there was a void in the industry for a “dad bag” for men transporting diapers and other baby items — the original OG version is a sleek black backpack made of wipe-clean fabric and that doubles into a supply tray when opened.
Tapping into the continued trend of travel bags that fold and expand depending on the needs that may arise while traveling, Cincha Travel offers a range of vegan leather and regular fabric totes that come with a bottom zipper to expand it by four inches and be even more capacious when the few souvenirs one bought on holiday need to be taken out of the suitcase to fall within the airline’s weight limit.
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- Unexpected country is most luxurious travel destination for 2026
- Low-cost airline launches easier way to get to Sri Lanka
According to a recent report from Fortune Business Insights, foldable and collapsible bags made up 11% of the global travel bag market in 2025 while that number is slated to grow significantly faster than any other segment in one of the biggest fashion trends that emerged over the last few years.
And when it comes to the things that one typically puts inside the bag on one’s travels, household lip balm brand ChapStick has expand beyond its core solid stick product with the launch of the new Hydrabalm squeze tubes in flavors such as cherry, vanilla, watermelon and guava as well as a flavorless lip repair balm.
Related: Popular tourist destination adds ‘bikini ban’