What are the fall colors for 2023?

Hello, Fall 2023! It may be prime summer up here in the northern hemisphere as I am writing but with plenty of Fall 2023 inspiration around it's hard not to want to look ahead. Color has the power to set the mood and reveal the emotional states we journey through. WGSN color forecasting is rather reflective of directional shifts in consumer needs and preferences than is designed be used as a personal dressing guide or a singular color story. Predicted colors reflect evolving moods we may come to collectively experience and rely on to fulfill our emotional needs. For Fall/Winter 2023/24, WGSN predicts key colors to be galactic blue, sage leaf, astro dust, digital lavender, and apricot crush that point to optimistic energy about rebuilding and reconstructing our futures contrasted by calming and healing tones needed to balance the transition.

WGSN head of color, Jenny Clark notes that “..key colors capture the evolving behaviors of the consumer and are sensitive to their shifting emotional states and changing lifestyles. We believe confidence will return and vibrant, energizing colors will resonate, connecting to travel and discovery, reigniting the imagination. In contrast, healing and settling tones will appeal to people seeking to calm and rebalance their body and mind.”

Enjoy inspiration from the runway to help you navigate the storytelling for 2023.

Named as the color of the year for 2023 by WGSN, digital lavender is a calming and soft lilac shade that is "soothing" and "restful" balancing assertive fall jewel shades in the palette. It is predicted to be a stronger focus for knits, loungewear, separates, accessories, and designs. In line with Pantone Very-Peri 2022 color of the year, whether pastel or a rich hue purple was seen on the catwalk in shows including ACNE Studios, YSL, Carolina Herrera, and more.

A warm, bright, luminous peachy shade of orange, Apricot Crush reflects optimistic and a unifying energy and play. It is both restorative and energizing bridging the differences between genders and age groups as we collectively reconstruct our visions for the future. It is a versatile shade that is predicted work across knitwear, loungewear, activewear, and outerwear and forecasted to be worked into seasonal prints including plaids, stripes, and florals. The playful peachy shades were seen across a number of Fall catwalk shows including Chloe, Stouls, Gabriela Hearst, and more.

In a recent statement, WGSN also forecasted Apricot Crush to be the color of the year for 2024 dethroning Digital Lavender from it's 2023 reign making it a safe bet to bank on.

A rich mid-tone red personifies "a shift toward off-kilter colors that feel intriguing and forward-looking," WGSN notes. It speaks to a sense of renewed motivation, desire for rebuild and explore, and discovering new frontiers both internally and externally. Astro Dust is both a commercial and directional color that works across genders. It is said to be "a great update for fashion essentials, outerwear and knitwear." This deep shade of mid red featured quite heavily across the Fall shows including Ulla Johnson, Paco Rabanne, Prabal Gurung, and more.

A rich jewel toned shade of blue said to be inspired by transformative and technologically driven developments in the digital and meta worlds. It points to bold confident attitudes supporting consumer preferences for assertive expressions. It is predicted to serve in multiple applications from activewear categories, to jewel tone party dresses, occasionwear, and accessories. Jewel toned shades of blue were featured heavily on the runway in the latest Fall shows including Christian Siriano, Fendi, Altuzzara, and more.

A settling shade of green is reflective of consumer need to balance overstimulated lives with colors that help "reduce anxiety and stress levels in the brain" as WGSN notes. A smart shade for elevated basics that exudes a sense of refined comfort. It is said to be a color that "instills a sense of contemplation, rest, and reflection" inspired by spending more time in nature and the outdoors and rising gardening hobbies. WGSN predicts sage leaf to feature in faux furs, soft knits, brushed jersey, refined basics, and separates.

WGSN F press release -

//www.wgsn.com/en/wgsn/press/press-releases/wgsn-and-coloro-announce-key-colours-aw-2324

Looking for more in depth print inspiration? Read on in this post on key Fall 2023 Trend Narratives and Key Motifs and Graphics.

Looking for matching Pantone codes to get a head start on planning Fall 2023 season? Check out the Color Matching Chart in my shop section. The chart is designed to help you speed up your color matching process and includes Pantone TCX codes for WGSN A/W 2023-2024 key colors along with 20 similar nearby Pantones you can test on different fibers and materials with your manufacturer to get the exact color match to suit your collection. Pantone color accuracy can often be affected by the type of fiber and fabric content you print on and printing the same Pantone on different surfaces can often come out looking very different. Testing a few similar shades at once can help greatly speed up the color matching process and save valuable time! The chart comes both in RGB and CMYK formats and is suitable for digital, sublimation, and screen. Click here to purchase.