SS26 arrived in full technicolour this season. From Prada doubling down on butter yellow and powder blue, to Gucci continuing its love affair with tomato red, designers are leaning into colour stories that feel brighter and louder - although classic neutrals and muted tones remain firmly on the radar, as ever. As fashion’s appetite for colour continues to grow, our wardrobes are shifting too - which raises the question: what colours are defining fashion’s mood for 2026?

Thankfully, after years of minimalism and quiet luxury, the answer is anything but subtle. In step with the maximalist energy sweeping the runways, spring/summer 2026’s colour story is unapologetically vivid: bold but not garish, polished but playful.

Colour ran through every part of Fendi’s centenary show. Frédéric Sanchez dubbed the soundtrack a “psychedelic promenade”, as Silvia Venturini Fendi delivered a collection filled with offbeat colour pairings and playful imbalance. Boxy T-shirts were styled with loose red leather trousers cinched at the knee. And vibrant ‘80s tailoring was finished off with candy-bright straps. It’s not hard to picture Emma Corrin and Iris Law sporting the full looks before summer’s out.

Saint Laurent went full ’80s Rive Gauche for SS26. Set against the backdrop of Paris’s Left Bank, with the Eiffel Tower in full view (as is now expected for a Saint Laurent moment), creative director Anthony Vaccarello revisited the brand's archives. Think exaggerated shoulder pads, sweeping bows, and voluminous gowns in rich jewel tones - emerald, blackberry, saffron - channelling the decadence of the era.

At Bottega Veneta, Louise Trotter’s debut as creative director was among the season’s most closely watched. For her first collection, she explored texture, opulent tones - and of course - the iconic intrecciato leather technique. Cloud Dancer, Pantone’s Colour of the Year, delivered some light relief to the mix.

Over at Miu Miu, Miuccia Prada closed Paris Fashion Week with a collection that leaned into muted tones and offbeat colour combinations. Inside the Palais d’Iéna, moss-covered floors set a quietly unruly tone. The palette stayed muted and weathered - burgundy, mustard, dusty pink, beige - cut into 1920s-inspired sheer mini dresses.

Even the runways themselves - yes, the literal floors - reflected the mood of the season. At Miu Miu, the catwalk was drenched in a bubblegum pink - not unlike a freshly unwrapped piece of Hubba Bubba - while Prada opted for a saturated tangerine that felt somewhere between Aperol spritz and ‘60s lacquer. And above those technicolour backdrops came collections that were equally unwilling to fade into neutrality: a procession of sharp citruses, sugared pastels, high-shine reds and deliberately offbeat colour pairings that made minimalism feel, for once, slightly beside the point.

Hailey Bieber called it: butter yellow may still dominate the fashion zeitgeist, but lemon is quickly emerging as its sharper, more high-voltage counterpart. Softer than gold yet brighter than pastel, butter yellow has spent the past year cementing itself as fashion’s most wearable optimistic neutral, appearing everywhere from relaxed tailoring to minimalist accessories. But for SS26, designers seem ready to push the palette further. Enter lemon: acidic, glossy and impossible to ignore.

The citrus shade has become one of the season’s boldest colour trends, bringing a sharper edge to fashion’s ongoing obsession with yellow. At Prada, it appeared in technical taffeta skirts and glossy wedges, transforming the once-playful tone into something far more directional. Elsewhere, the colour surfaced in slinky satin slips, retro-tinted sunglasses and sculptural accessories that lean into fashion’s current appetite for high-impact dressing. Pair the shade with Cult Gaia’s maximalist clutch and a lacquered swipe of Prada Beauty gloss for maximum effect.

Tomato red is a non-mover when it comes to colour trends. At Alexander McQueen, red arrived via sharply cut trousers, while Miu Miu ensured tops followed suit. Christian Louboutin, meanwhile, took its famously lacquered red sole and gave it the full treatment: all-over crimson suede. And as for accessories, red isn’t limiting itself to the wardrobe. Over at Prada Beauty, a slick of Soft Matte lipstick leans neatly into the shade’s enduring appeal: proof that sometimes the finishing touch can do the heavy lifting.

Barely-there nude is proving equally persuasive. At Miu Miu, oat and biscuit tones arrived via mini hemlines and crystallized embellishments. While Prada leaned into second-skin shades that sat somewhere between caramel and café au lait.

The appeal, of course, lies in its restraint. Nude tones have a habit of making everything look more expensive, and the same thinking carries through to beauty, too. Tom Ford’s neutral-toned lip colours and softly diffused finishes tap into the same less-is-more mood borrowed straight from ‘90s beauty: polished, understated, and blissfully free of anything too obvious.

Bubblegum pink - fashion’s preferred serotonin hit - is firmly on the rise once again. This season, designers made the sugary shade feel less Malibu Dream House and considerably more grown-up. At Miu Miu, punchy pink arrived in near-sheer textures, while Bottega Veneta doubled down with candy-coloured versions of its intrecciato Andiamo bag.

The appeal of Hubba Bubba pink lies in its adaptability. Worn with offbeat colours and oddball prints, it feels playful; taken head-to-toe, it turns unexpectedly polished. Christian Louboutin’s Miss Z patent stilettos make a strong case for the latter. Over at Saint Laurent, flushed pink tones and glossy finishes on the lips echoed the mood perfectly, via the Love Nude Balm.

Green is firmly back in the conversation, arriving with its pop culture references fully intact. It inevitably calls to mind Kylie Minogue’s chartreuse, green Fairy dress for Moulin Rouge in 2001. And, of course, there’s the yellow-leaning evolution of Brat-green pushed into the mainstream by Charli XCX in 2024. Alongside it, army green returns in a quieter, more grounded form, elevated through the rich, opulent tones seen at Saint Laurent, Balmain and Miu Miu.

At Balmain, green arrived in fluid layers and muted tones, while Prada offered a sharper take through its stiletto court shoes. Accessories came courtesy of Chloé’s iconic Paddington bag: softening the palette with a touch of nostalgia. Finish with a slick of Giorgio Armani Beauty Eye Tint and the look is complete.

Against the mossy greens and earthy browns that lined the floor of Miu Miu’s end-of-year show, deep merlot emerged as a standout shade. Rich, saturated and slightly decadent, the colour threaded its way through the collection with ease.

Accessories elsewhere quickly followed suit. At Fendi, the house’s double Mamma Baguette arrived drenched in the same wine-toned hue, while Prada applied it to soft leather ballet flats that added depth to otherwise pared-back looks. Saint Laurent, meanwhile, pushed the colour further still, pairing high shine finishes with glossed lips to make a compelling case for merlot as 2026’s most polished dark neutral.

Powder blue, the softer counterpart to navy, cerulean and mint, is back in rotation. Think less sugary pastel and more the chalky blue of old talc tins. Unlike the sharper cobalt and icy tones that have dominated in recent seasons, powder blue feels softer, cleaner and far easier to wear day-to-day; bringing a calmer edge to SS26’s otherwise high-impact colour palette,

Prada, naturally, set the tone early on in fashion week. A long-sleeved blouse, technical taffeta skirt and the Bonnie top-handle bag kept the shade firmly in focus throughout the collection. Even their beauty line tapped into the mood, with Infusions de Cedre translating the collection’s clean, powdered feel into fragrance.

Navy, long positioned as black’s quieter alternative, is back in steady circulation. Less stark than black, more considered than blue, it sits in that useful space between uniform and ease. Fendi works it through V-neck jumpers and dependable staples like straight trousers but offsets the familiarity with unexpected touches - like flashes of bubblegum pink at the collar - underlining how adaptable the shade can be. The mood extends beyond clothing, too. YSL Intense mirrors navy’s polished edge via smoky woods and deeper floral notes.

Pantone’s colour of the year, Cloud Dancer sits somewhere between white and soft grey; a near-neutral that feels calm rather than clinical. It avoids any real statement, which is partly why it works so well right now.

That’s exactly how Prada, Casablanca and Bottega Veneta are treating it, each pushing the shade a little closer to the everyday. At Prada, it appears on shirting, keeping the look clean and understated. Casablanca softens it through chino shorts, giving it a more relaxed, holiday-adjacent feel. Meanwhile, Bottega Veneta applies the hue to low-top trainers, giving the shade an easy edge.

Tangerine sits somewhere between orange and heat: not quite citrus, not quite red, but close enough to both that it never feels shy. It reads loud without needing pattern or print, which is partly why it keeps turning up whenever designers want colour to do the talking.

 At Tom Ford, Saint Laurent and Ferragamo, it’s pushed firmly into focus. Tom Ford leans into it with a sculptural top tunic that holds the shade at full intensity. Saint Laurent tempers it slightly through a satin pencil skirt, giving it a sharper, more controlled finish. Ferragamo softens the approach with a structured top-handle bag, while Christian Louboutin keeps it lifted on slingback heels. Finishing touches can be achieved via a slick of high-shine lipstick c/o Tom Ford.