Key colours announced for A/W 25/26

The theme of the A/W 25/26 season is ACCELERATION. The overarching theme driving our A/W 25/26 Global colour forecast shows accelerating change, both good and bad, with accelerating climate crisis chaos and strange signs of decline. In this new reality, colours reflect the need for repair, reassurance, and urgency.
Key colours for A/W 25/26 are Sky Yellow, Cherry Varnish, Retro Blue, Neon Flare and Future Dusk.

Urangoo Samba, Head of Colour at WGSN, says: "Light and radiant hues like Sky Yellow, as well as the meditative and sensual darks of Future Dusk and Cherry Lacquer, speak of the search for restoration, whether it's looking to the cosmos for guidance or turning our gaze inward for solace.

Reliable and familiar colours like Retro Blue reflect the enduring appeal of nostalgia and the need to connect with comforting and recognisable people and things in a world that feels dangerous and uncertain.

Intense and bright hues like Neon Flare reflect the beauty and strangeness of nature and the urgency and activism needed to bring it back to a point of balance."

Sansan Chen, General Manager of Coloro, the innovative colour system used in the forecast, says: "Before any seasonal palette is approved, all predicted colours are run through Coloro's Feasibility Intelligence solution to ensure that the colours are broadly achievable in most materials. We usually select colours that can be achieved on all materials but based on the strong trend evidence provided by WGSN, this year we decided to ignore this criterion for the colour Neon Flare 014-68-58 and added it as a Key Colour for A/W 25/26. The colour is unobtainable on cotton and has limited light fastness on nylon, but Coloro provides brands with information on how they can tailor and achieve ways to promote this important neon colour pop while avoiding all the frustrations of misapplications. This demonstrates the importance of a balanced approach, which I am sure is reflected in our clients' business, and that creativity and technical expertise always work together to win."

A/W 25/26 Season's Colour Futura Dusk

This will be a strategic year of imagination in which individual and collective creativity will be used to generate new economic and ecological solutions. Future Dusk is in line with this theme, sitting between blue and purple and bringing a sense of mystery and escape with its dark and moody qualities.

This surreal and otherworldly shade also has a celestial and futuristic character, inspired by the advent of the second space age. It harmonises with the themes of moving from darkness to light, from dusk to dawn, and prepares us for new horizons.

Accompanying Colours

Celestial Yellow- 048-90-17
Celestial Yellow is a luminous, radiant, multi-sensory colour that feels both reparative and surreal. It is reminiscent of the moon, stars and sun and is linked to the search for reassurance and guidance as people look to spirituality, astrology, and astronomy in times of uncertainty.

Cherry Lacquer- 159-23-15
Cherry Lake is a devastating darkness with a luxurious glamour. In an age of anger and uncertainty, Cherry Lacquer fuels the themes of resistance and rebellion. At the same time, it has a seductive quality that touches our deepest desires, taboos, and pleasures as a form of radical escape and self-empowerment.

Retro Blue- 100-64-14
Retro Blue is an unusual, analogue colour with a warm and emotional quality. It has a soft undercurrent of joy and innocence brought by memories, in tune with the rise of reimagined childhood and nostalgic feeling among Generation Z.

Neon Flare- 014-68-51
Neon Flare is a temporary neon with a kinetic and synthetic quality. As the planet faces code red; and climate anxiety becomes more prevalent, this AI-inspired colour has an igniting and stimulating effect, fuelling a collective sense of urgency as we seek to unlock solutions to 'wicked problems' (those with interconnected factors that seem impossible to solve). Its charged character speaks of the need to come together and reclaim our souls in a collective burst of effort and energy.

The above information is extracted from the WGSN's website.

MEDIA & PRESS

Key colours announced for A/W 25/26