WGSN and Coloro present their Key Colours for A/W 25/26, which are aligned with influences that will drive consumers, including a focus on wellbeing, creativity, the environment and technology.
London, October 1, 2023 – WGSN, the global authority on consumer and design trends, and Coloro, the global authority on the future of colour, today announced the colours that will be adopted by 2026.
Acceleration is the overarching theme driving our A/W 25/26 Global Colour Forecast. As the climate crisis brings chaos and strange omens of decline (orange skies, green oceans), we will see an acceleration of change, both good and bad. Urgency, repair and reassurance will be necessities in this new reality, as is reflected in our A/W 25/26 colours.
The Key Colours for A/W 25/26 are Celestial Yellow, Cherry Lacquer, Retro Blue, Neon Flare and Future Dusk.
Urangoo Samba (she/her), Head of Colour for WGSN, said: "Light and luminous hues such as Celestial Yellow, as well as meditative and sensual darks of Future Dusk and Cherry Lacquer speak of the search for restoration, whether it be looking out to cosmos for guidance, or turning our gaze inwards for solace.
Dependable and familiar colours such as Retro Blue echo the enduring appeal of nostalgia and the need to connect with people and things that are comforting and recognisable in a world that feels perilous and uncertain.
Intense and bright tones such as Neon Flare mirror the beauty and strangeness of nature, and the urgency and activism required to bring it back to a place of balance.”
Sansan Chen, Managing Director of Coloro, the innovative colour system used in the forecast, said: “Before any seasonal palette is confirmed, all forecasted colours are run through Coloro’s Feasibility Intelligence solution to ensure the colours are broadly achievable on most materials. We typically choose colours that can be achieved on all materials, however, based on strong trend evidence provided by WGSN, this year we decided to overlook this criteria for the colour Neon Flare 014-68-58 and it was added as a Key Colour for A/W 25/26. The colour is not achievable on cotton and has limited lightfastness on nylon but Coloro provides brands with the knowledge of how they can appropriate and achieve ways to introduce that important pop of neon colour while avoiding all the frustrations of misapplications. This showcases the importance of a balanced approach that I'm sure is mirrored in our clients’ businesses and how creativity and technical expertise are always working together for the win."
Celestial Yellow- 048-90-17
Celestial Yellow is a glowing, luminous, multi-sensorial colour that feels both restorative and surreally off-kilter. It is reminiscent of the moon, the stars and the sun, and connects with the search for reassurance and guidance as people look to spirituality, astrology and astronomy in times of uncertainty.
Cherry Lacquer- 159-23-15
Cherry Lacquer is a subversive dark with a luxurious appeal. In the age of rage and uncertainty, Cherry Lacquer feeds into themes of resistance and rebellion. It also has a seductive quality that taps into our deepest desires, taboos and pleasures as a form of radical escapism and self-empowerment.
Retro Blue- 100-64-14
Retro Blue is an offbeat, analogue colour with a warm and sentimental quality. It has an undercurrent of soft joy and innocence brought on by memories, aligning with the rise of kidults and nostalgic sentiments reimagined among Gen Z.
Neon Flare- 014-68-51
Neon Flare is a transient neon with a kinetic and synthetic quality. As the planet faces code red and climate anxiety becomes more pervasive, this AI-inspired colour has an igniting and stimulating effect, fuelling a sense of collective urgency as we strive to unlock solutions to ‘wicked problems’ (those with interdependent factors, which seem impossible to solve). Its charged character speaks to the need to come together and restore our spirits in a burst of communal effort and energy.
Colour of the Year - Future Dusk- 129-35-18
This will be a year of strategic imagination, when individual and collective creativity will be harnessed to generate new economic and ecological solutions. Future Dusk aligns with this theme, sitting between blue and purple, and bringing a sense of mystery and escapism through its dark and moody qualities.
This surreal and otherworldly shade also has a celestial and futuristic character inspired by the emergence of the second space age. It aligns with themes of moving from darkness to light, dusk to dawn, preparing us for new horizons.
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WGSN x Coloro - The partnership that delivers Colour of the Year predictions unites WGSN’s trend forecasting expertise with Coloro, a global colour system that offers physical and digital solutions to ensure colour accuracy. Each season, WGSN experts choose tones for the company’s forecasts directly from Coloro’s extensive library of 3,500+ contemporary colours. Health checks are run, utilising Coloro’s feasibility data to ensure the chosen colours are achievable across substrates and meet acceptable fastness and testing results. Anticipating achievability upfront ensures wastage is minimised in the production process.
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NOTES TO EDITORS
For further information and images, please contact:
WGSN Press Office (press@wgsn.com)
James Volpe, WGSN (james.volpe@wgsn.com / +1 201 739 6177)
ABOUT WGSN
WGSN is the global authority on consumer, lifestyle and product design trends, helping brands around the world create the right products at the right time for tomorrow’s consumer.
WGSN's trusted consumer and design forecasts power outstanding product design, enabling our customers to create a better future. Our services cover consumer insights, beauty, consumer tech, fashion, interiors, lifestyle, food and drink forecasting, data analytics and expert advisory.
Visit wgsn.com
ABOUT COLORO
Coloro is the future of colour. A beautifully designed system, backed with a technically sound approach, providing the product design sector with the freedom to create and execute colour with total confidence. Coloro offers physical and digital products, drawing from an extensive library of 3,500 contemporary colours and expert advisory services. For more information, visit coloro.com.