The Groutfit Is All Grown Up

When I hear the term “groutfit” (a portmanteau of “gray outfit”), my mind flashes back to 2015, when stone and charcoal sweats were the style du jour. It was born during an era when comfort dressing had style stars like Gigi Hadid and Kendall Jenner in a chokehold; a byproduct of normcore and the rise of athleisure.

Like many trends from the 2010s (e.g., cheugy peplums and high-low hems), the groutfit is in the midst of a renaissance, and it’s practically unrecognizable with its 2026 rebrand. The Groutfit 2.0 is all grown up and a far cry from its drab and dreary origins, especially if Margot Robbie, Anne Hathaway, and Hilary Duff have a say in it.

Margot’s Gray Pantsuit

On Tuesday, April 21, the Wuthering Heights actor attended an event during Milan Design Week in a layered look made up of several shades of gray. She wore a charcoal knit top over a textured turtleneck in a lighter pewter shade paired with a matching pantsuit. It included a boxy blazer accented with a brooch, and high-waist loose trousers cinched with a red belt for a pop of color.

Robbie finished off her tailored, menswear-inspired ‘fit with deep oxblood/brown shoes. The look was a far cry from the errand-friendly looks of yore, and proved monochromatic can be sleek.

The following day, more style icons traded in their typically colorful wardrobes for the desaturated hue. Hathaway, who’s been living in pops of red (or cerulean) during her Devil Wears Prada 2 press tour, stepped out in London in her own gray-on-gray number. She wore a knitted long-sleeve top with a brown peplum detail, another relic from the past making a comeback.

For a streamlined moment, she paired it with a matching knee-length pencil skirt (actually groundbreaking for spring) and deep red pointed-toe pumps (two of the season’s biggest shoe trends).

Meanwhile, Duff attended the 2026 Time100 Summit in New York, where she wore a gray tube top with a cinched waist and a fringe texture detail throughout. Like Robbie, she opted for matching loose trousers.

The Groutfit Rebrand

This trend is one of the easiest to style, because you don’t need the exact same gray shades to look polished. Play with multiple tones within the gray color family à la Robbie and get creative with the layering. The key to copying her look is in combining fabric textures or — a cheat code — combining various folds, pleats, and draping details.

You could also go the matching set route like Hathaway and Duff to take the guesswork out of styling. Either way, it’s worth giving the new groutfit a try.