Kate Middleton Just Wore the Smart Trouser Trend European Women Know Will Be Huge This Spring

If the spring/summer 2025 collections taught us anything at all, it’s that suiting is going to be key next season. Smart, neatly tailored silhouettes were a resounding runway success, heralding the return of one of fashion’s most timeless trends.

Clearly, in tune with the move towards suiting, Kate Middleton stepped out this week wearing the specific trouser style that’s set to take off soon. Styling a chic take on suiting for an engagement at The National Portrait Gallery, Catherine, Princess of Wales, picked up a deep chocolate brown blazer, but instead of selecting an equally earthy shade of trousers, Middleton reached for the classic pinstripe trouser trend to complete her look.

Keeping her styling clean and polished, Middleton paired her trousers with a slim-fitting turtleneck and pointed-toe heels. Adding dimension to her transeasonal look, without incorporating excess colour or texture, her chocolate brown blazer and charcoal pinstripe trousers instilled an easy elegance and subtle wash of colour.

While pinstripe trousers are set to be a core trend for spring, they have an enduring appeal that sees them style well throughout the year, meaning they’re already cropping up in chic outfits now. Pairing chicly with a neat button down for an office-ready look, this trouser also works well with slouchy knits for a more low-key take.

Elongating the legs by means of the subtle vertical stripes that trace from the hips to the ankles, pinstripe trousers are a wearable investment you’ll find you keep coming back to.

By no means a new trend, fashion people throughout Europe have been weaving these trousers into their wardrobe rotations for seasons. Translating the easy elegance that the European style set is known for, these trousers feel fuss-free and polished and can easily stand in for jeans if you want to elevate your style in an instant. And right now, I’m seeing them crop up more than ever.

The Princess of Wales’s endorsement is a clear tell that a trend is set to take off, and I’m getting ahead of the curve and shopping it now. If you are, too, then read on to discover our edit of the best pinstripe trousers below.