Special Edition: Fashion Week S/S 26 - Key Takeaways
We reveal what’s next for womenswear, from the return of dresses and sheer fabrics, to the rise of pink shades and optic whites.
Each fashion week season, we use our AI image recognition tool, WGSN Fashion Vision, to analyse data emerging from the runway.
WGSN Catwalks provides real-time data insights to determine the prevalence of different colours and silhouettes on the runways of New York, London, Milan and Paris. We also track year-on-year changes within the main fashion categories.
We highlight the season’s key category shifts based on exclusive analytical data from WGSN to help you plan your next collection.
Paris Insights
In Paris, summer dresses dominated, especially maxi silhouettes with bold florals, polka dots and bohemian motifs. Optic white emerged as a key colour story. Draping was upgraded through updated halter cuts and cowl necklines, signalling a renewed interest in fluid yet well-constructed design.
Milan Insights
Milan emphasised heritage tailoring with a contemporary twist. Coats gained prominence, particularly reworked trench and car-coat styles featuring strong shoulder structures. Knit and cut-and-sew tops also picked up momentum, with preppy influences shaping their design direction. Pink pastels softened otherwise sharp tailoring, and sheer fabrics proved pervasive across romantic, bohemian and softened utility looks.
London Insights
London leaned into experimentation while reinforcing its reputation for statement dresses, which recovered strongly after a dip last season. Knits and cut-and-sew tops grew, pointing to the city’s affinity for softer, layered dressing, while woven tops dipped slightly. Pastel pinks became a seasonal anchor. Three-dimensional floral embellishments added playful, raised textures to collections.
New York Insights
New York saw gelato pastels incorporated into numerous key themes, including romantic stories, feminine updates to prep and sporty clubhouse trends and the softening of utility aesthetics. With a +3.4ppt increase, black played an essential role not only as a core colour, but also as a fashion shade for dark romance trends and in floral and polka dot prints.
How WGSN uses AI and image tagging to decode fashion week trends
Get an exclusive behind-the-scenes peek into WGSN’s catwalk image tagging process and use of AI from our digital asset expert, Cassandra Rosenthal.
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WGSN Catwalks Analytics
Access all the catwalk analysis you need, from live coverage to the post-show analytics, in a single, dedicated place.
Powered by proprietary data, AI and human expertise, WGSN’s Catwalks experience delivers quick-response data and insights into emerging trends straight from the runway and the streets.
Transform catwalk inspiration into the right products with confidence.
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