The 13 Spring/Summer Fashion Trends You’ll See Everywhere in 2026 — and How To Shop Them Now
Your guide to the season ahead
It might feel like the bleak midwinter, but we’re actually on the brink of a new season—one of renewal and promise: Spring/Summer 2026. Back in September, our editors watched fashion month unfold in New York, London, Milan and Paris, saving, bookmarking and (mentally) cataloging all the biggest, and best, trends so that, when this weather finally thaws, you’ll have a cheat sheet to hand.
And there was plenty to write home about, from skirts that expounded a theory we’ve long suspected (bigger is better) to visible bras to a pairing so effortless, so cool, that you absolutely need to see to believe it this spring. Whether you’re after an immersive reinvention, with a new colour palette to push you out of your comfort zone, or a subtle update like an opera glove, a curveball hemline or a trouser silhouette that plans to edge out the barrel, there’s something for every style personality.
Say Something Skirts
Slip-of-a-thing skirts appear to have booked an overdue sabbatical this spring. Taking their place—and more importantly taking up space—are skirts that subscribe to a different mantra: bigger is bigger. Thom Brown’s resembled cumulonimbus, with an exaggerated puffball silhouette that appeared like a modern-day take on panniers. Other designers to put their spin on skirts wide enough to require a sideways move through single doorways included Alaïa, Calvin Klein and Simone Rocha, whose translucent, ditsy-print skirts featured visible tiers of little then large hoops.
Over Not Under
Bras haven’t been a purely functional garment for some time, often providing their wearers with a sense of comfort, yes, but also a certain frisson. For SS26, however, the difference is a shift from underpinnings to something more public-facing. At Hermès, a criss-cross bustier was paired with knee-length culottes and sleek riding boots, all in leather, an outfit that felt both action hero-esque and historical. Jil Sander’s interpretation was an optical illusion (almost), a crew-necked mini dress with a circle sliced away to reveal a bra made out of the same material, an understated grey twill. Tiffany Hsu, Mytheresa’s chief buying and group fashion venture officer, goes so far as saying it’s a “key trend”, picking out Miu Miu, who featured, “satin bras layered under dresses, adding a luxurious and modern touch to the look.” Its subversive appeal is obvious, “turning traditionally intimate garments into statement-making elements of the outfit.”
A Bright Idea
Soft-focus pastels for spring aren’t exactly groundbreaking, which is perhaps why so many designers opted for saturated colours instead. From primary shades that packed a punch (Celine mixed all three on a scarf-print blouse to sublime effect) to a renewed appreciation for jewel hues (emerald’s stock rocketed after Balenciaga), this is the season to go bright or go home. Jil Sander, by the way, contained the perfect middle ground for those more comfortable in neutrals—a pomodoro crew-neck jumper that came popped over a cobalt polo neck but, crucially, pared back with a black pencil skirt on the bottom half. (Lanvin took a similar approach, pairing a peacock blouse, which, incidentally coordinated with the catwalk space’s walls and floors, with slimline black trousers.)
Grey Matter
There’s a different path, however, if your comfort zone is colours that don’t shout but whisper, with grey emerging as the neutral for SS26. The Attico’s grey was anything but drab, with a whip-smart skirt suit the colour of concrete positioning itself as the ultimate way to get promoted if part of your manifestation process is to “dress for the job you want”. At Dior, meanwhile, Jonathan Anderson’s grey jersey frock, with its sporty neckline, intricate draping and moulded hips making it a standout of his debut, was a haute take on everyone’s favourite sweatpants. It’s an easy shade to wear head-to-toe, particularly a darker variation like charcoal, or you can use it to subtly temper full-throttle shades like tomato, cobalt or mustard.
Power Couple
What’s the first thing you reach for on days when, frankly, your default mode is CBA? Jeans. Luckily, that very garment comprises half of spring’s hottest couple: jackets and jeans. It’s a duo that was spotted at Balenciaga, Celine, Dior and Givenchy, where a leather blazer was styled with polished turn-up jeans. You can see why the combination works so well, with the lived-in comfort of denim, effortless and forever the opposite of try-hard, giving a sense of cool to bombers, capes and blousons.
Riding Low
We’ve had to confront the return of low-rise jeans, the ‘00s throwback no one saw coming. This season, however, it’s their cousin who’s making a comeback—low-slung skirts. There’s less to be afraid of here, trust us, with the addition of a belt that lends a crucial note of polish in this context. At BOSS, a low-slung pencil skirt threaded with a slim leather belt looked ripe for work or play, depending on the styling. (It was paired with a shirt and barely-fastened cardigan, FYI, so you could easily lose the former component if heading on a date after office hours are over.)
Black + White = More Than Alright
Black and white doesn’t have to mean boring. In fact, monochrome looks made their presence felt in multiple collections for SS26, proving that your wardrobe doesn’t have to be Technicolour. At Celine, a white blazer was paired with second-skin black trousers, a graphic juxtaposition that didn’t look staged but subtle. Over at Tod’s, a strapless leather dress was sandwiched by white, with a frayed border at the hemline, in particular, lending a sense of ease. Most designers gave equal weight to black and white, balancing their looks with blocks of both (Saint Laurent’s black leather skirt suit was balanced with a white pussy-bow shirt, for example). But you could also tip your outfit’s scales towards one with just a flash of the other (Khaite’s high-waisted black tuxedo pants were contrasted with a slender white bandeau).
Marie Claire’s Fashion Director, Lily Russo-Bah, said: “As someone who rarely wears black, there was something quite soft and feminine about the way black and white were put together on the catwalk for Spring. The stark colour palette was contrasted by fluid silhouettes, even when leather was used, as seen at both Tod’s and Gabriela Hearst. It takes a lot for me to turn my back on colour, but this season I may be converted.”
Flower Power
We’ve always got time for a floral in spring, but this season it’s less about a bouquet than what you might place in a bud vase. Marques’ Almedia emblazoned a chiffon maxi dress with a single purple iris, blowing up its petals so they bloomed over the model’s torso. Quieter than a wallpaper-like print, but no less striking, it was also a trend seen at Patrick McDowell, where a single black flower was silhouetted against a pressed white shirt, the designer’s take on a perennial buttonhole, and Simone Rocha, where a stem ran from the breastbone to past the mid-calf on a creamy satin frock. A bunch of flowers is always nice but, this season at least, why say it with many when you can say it with one?
A Sporting Chance
Flippy tennis skirts, striped rugby jerseys, water-repellent windbreakers; there was a sporty mood to many of this season’s garments, which married practicality with personal style. At Loewe, for example, gym kit layers consisted of two shirts, a bodysuit and two anoraks, one beige and one blue. While it wasn’t a look you’d necessarily sport on a treadmill anytime soon—although it has been rather cold recently so, if you’re an outdoor runner, have at it—it made a case, very convincingly, for clothes that look, but also feel, easy and wearable. The consensus on how to make your sportswear “fashion-forward”? Add a pair of heels to up the ante, quite literally, of an otherwise laidback ensemble.
Leather Weather
Bottega Veneta’s signature leather technique, Intrecciato, meant that, even though it’s spring, the fabrication was very much front of mind. Louise Trotter’s powerhouse first collection featured plenty of the stuff, but one particularly special design was a butter yellow coat that was an outfit all by itself. She wasn’t the only designer to look at leather through a summery lens. At Chloé, a scoop-neck tank was styled with a gathered leather skirt that was gathered around the hips. Rabanne, meanwhile, cut a babydoll slip dress from oxblood calfskin, giving its neckline a studded trim that lent edge to its butter-wouldn’t-melt silhouette.
Sensory Experience
Clothes that made you want to reach out and give them a ruffle, stroke or even (gentle) poke were a highlight of SS26. One Alaïa coat immediately springs to mind, a refined take on a shag rug, with individual waves of fringe making their way into a shawl collar plus a mullet-shaped hem. For Pierpaolo Piccioli at Valentino, one maxi skirt was made of spiky fronds, rather like the petals of a dahlia, a high-drama treatment that contrasted to perfection with its understated top half: an oversized T-shirt. Texture in most cases was a head-to-toe affair (Calvin Klein, for example, sent a silky-smooth fringed top down the catwalk with a skirt, both in glossy copper brown). Roksanda, meanwhile, topped simple black trousers with a fringed mini dress made of multicoloured filament layers, the kicker being ribbon steamers that flowed out from underneath.
Trad Wives
When Miu Miu makes a trend out of crossover aprons, you know the “trad wife” aesthetic just got the stamp of cool it’s badly needed. Ditsy-printed and white-boardered, these knee-length pinnies were paired with a collared shirt, a neck scarf, a crocheted jumper and, the finishing touch, a neat top-handle bag; a combination that’s a little bit “off” in a way that’s very Miuccia. Elsewhere, there were plenty of other twists on the ladylike. Tory Burch’s cardigan and pencil skirt combination was the cool-woman take on a twinset-and-pearls. Chemena Kamali, meanwhile, ripped up the flou rulebook with her latest collection for Chloé, with floral wallpaper dresses that fell elegantly off the shoulders but racily bounced at the thigh. And why not? It’s 2026, after all.
The Trench 2.0
The trench coat is the ultimate double negative, it’s simply never not trending, especially in spring. For SS26, however, it’s reinvented itself (subtly, of course). Calvin Klein’s new-fangled trench is low-waisted, button-free and perfectly oversized. Celine’s, on the other hand, has a scarf-print lining, a funnel-neck and a nearly ankle-length silhouette. When it comes to finding “The One”, however, it might pay to stick to what you know, investing in a twist on a classic that will only get better with age.
“I’ve been hunting for the perfect trench for years,” says Amy Powney, founder and creative director of AKYN. “It needs to feel contemporary and so the colour and shape is very important.” Later this summer, she’ll be launching exactly that—the perfect trench. “It's made from 100% organic cotton with a low chemical waterproof finish.” Her excitement is palpable. “It’s very difficult, in the world of technical outerwear, to find organic and natural materials,’ she explains, adding, “It has a traditional, classic shape but is finished with organic-shaped horn-inspired buttons which add a sense of warmth that juxtaposes the more masculine shell.”
The Micro Trends You Don't Want To Miss
A micro trend might not have the cut-through of a fully-fledged “moment”, but it’s a surefire way to dress slightly more off the well-beaten path. Speaking of “off”, skew-whiff hemlines vied for attention, turning heads at Michael Kors, Loewe and Tod’s, making a case for the asymmetric or otherwise misaligned.
If you’re a trousers person, meanwhile, take heed of next season’s trending silhouette: the balloon. Billowing yet beautifully refined, this shape flares out from the hip but is snatched at the ankle, providing a barrel-adjacent shape that will benefit from a block heel.
Another garment that prioritises a sense of practicality is the boilersuit, which got its flowers on the catwalks of Bottega Veneta, Emporio Armani and Miu Miu. The high-fashion styling takeaway is to layer up, popping a fine-gauge polo neck underneath or an apron (yes really, see above!) on top.
Less practical but no less appealing is chartreuse, the colour trend no one saw coming on account of it being a green that’s usually overlooked for bottle, grass, moss or even lime. It’s finally coming into its own, however, with endorsements on the catwalks of Erdem, Saint Laurent and Valentino.
Some brands, meanwhile, ran with the preppy trend, serving collegiate-style looks that brought two words to mind (“Ivy” and “League”). Chanel’s three-pieces (sauced up somewhat with the skirt’s micro hemline) were A-grade.
Similarly intriguing was the profusion of gloves, an old-world accessory that was modernised at Balenciaga, Celine and Prada, who paired an elbow-length opera style with a full-skirted frock.
When it comes to drama, in for a penny, in for a pound, which is why the next micro trend is the Harlequin, a character that was nodded to in subtle and not-so-subtle ways on the catwalks. Louis Vuitton’s cropped and ruffled-collar jacket, with black-and-white tiers as it graduated down the body, was particularly winning.
Finally, the white dress, which became a blank canvas, once again, for experimentation this season. From the Grecian (Tove) to the romantic (Simone Rocha), it’s a garment that will never get old.
