Color Theory: Summer Shades Set to Stay for Fall

In a traditional sense, retail color has been fairly standard: rust, olive and brown are for Fall/Winter and pink, yellow and white are for Spring/Summer. When it comes to the business of best-sellers, many retailers tend not to stray too far from tried-and-true, especially in the mass market.

Yet, color being “assigned” to a season is becoming less and less significant – and the importance of color becoming even more important as monochromatic dressing has came into play and it offers a less risky option than investing in new prints for retailers. We’ve seen this color shift slowly occurring in the more forward markets for years and the theme of “fashion rules” being broken in all senses, thanks to the democratization of fashion from social media.

So, our current color theory? Everyone’s favorite summer shades are here to stay into fall. Plus, read on for a new Spring/Summer-slanted shade that will make a splash later this year.

'70s Sage

Green has undoubtedly been crowned the color of the season with ‘70s-inspired hues reigning supreme (check out our trend report on it here). In fact, green has made up 17% of sold out products last month. For summer, it’s no surprise that shades of sage have been resonating well. This earthen shade takes a nostalgic nod while providing a splash of color without being entirely overwhelming to a wearer. Dialing into the zeitgeist of the moment while actually being practical is a recipe for longevity. On the runways, a warm sage made an appearance at Acne Studios, DSquared2, Gucci, Kenzo and Nina Ricci, to name a few.

Sunset Shades

Rather than taking a solely pastel approach, this Spring/Summer season, some of the most popular hues have been “sunset shades”: tangerine orange, sunny yellow and punchy pink. These saturated hues bring a sense of fun and creativity back to dressing which we’ve collectively been longing for after 2020. Looking back at last year, pink only made up 6% of introduced products, while this year it’s accounting for 13%. We’ll most certainly notice this trend continue as we’ve seen this shade of orange everywhere from Chanel and Loewe to Christian Cowan, fuschia pink at Christian Siriano and Gucci, as well as yellow at Coperni and Patou.

Ice Blue

Alternatively, taking a turn towards pastel, we’ll be welcoming icy blues into our wardrobe rotation. This shade has been subtly entering the market this Summer/Spring but is set to make quite a splash come Fall. Typically, classic cobalt or navy is the go-to blue as fall-forward products are introduced; last year, we saw them make up 14% of introduced products in August. We can expect that to change this year as this icy hue was a key player on the runways of Aknvas, Blumarine, Emilio Pucci, Roksanda, and Ports 1961.

All in all, color can be tricky but unexpected creativity and playfulness is the new status quo when it comes to the consumer wishlist. Stay in the loop on our latest color theories in the Trend Report section of the StyleSage platform.