From beige and rosé to stimulating tones and the universal blue – the color trends predicted by trend researchers for women’s fashion for spring/summer 2024 point to women’s need to reclaim their bodies.
As the spring/summer 2024 ordering season ramps up and ahead of the fashion weeks that go with it, it’s as if the physical body is setting the tone for the season. “We despised the body. Reduced him to the role of a vessel. He had to be beautiful. A shop window. We had handed responsibility for our happiness to corrupt idols,” write Louis Gérin and Grégory Lamaud, the creative directors of the Texworld fair. “Although the warmth of the sun on the skin is filled with bliss. Too much bias, too much ego, too much at stake. But our senses don’t lie. We have chosen to trust our bodies. We’re smarter now.”
Rosé-beige, orange-pink, metallic effects denote a lush sensuality
Pink, the color par excellence read as feminine, remains at the forefront of the trend, but in a softer form than the fuchsia propagated by Valentino for winter 2022/23. According to WGSN is fondant pink a pigmented pastel tone that has a light and youthful appeal. It marks the return of soft, fluffy shades of pink that blend effortlessly with shades of lilac and lavender. This hue hints at feelings of enchantment that will become increasingly important for people through 2024. Small moments of wonder can work like medicine against anxiety, increase well-being and slow down the perception of time.
For the textile studio Nelly Rodi, the body is an appeal to the senses, reflected in shades of nude, rose petal, mother-of-pearl, in transparency but also in metallic reflections. They look like they’ve been bathed in gold, like the advert for the ‘J’adore’ perfume starring Charlize Theron. “For the topic Splendor we explore the spiritual side of the woman, the priestess, the vestal virgin,” explains Catherine Basquin, director of Nelly Rodi.
This exaggerated sensuality goes hand in hand with the ambiguity that plays out between real and virtual and leads to a high degree instagrammable or tiktokable Hyper-eroticization leads. Here the pink tones become stronger, expanding to include mauve and fuchsia. The red tones become lighter and approach the orange. “The summer of 2024 offers unexpected applications of color. Summery red tones and saturated pink tones freshen up the palette with their colorfulness, supported by the radiance of yellow tones,” according to the trend researchers at Peclers Paris.
Invigorating colors that set the body in motion
In Paris, art is also dedicated to the exhibition ‘Le langage du corps’ at the museum of designer Agnès b, the show ‘La mode en mouvement’ shown at the Palais Galliera and the upcoming exhibition ‘Mode et sport, d’un podium à l’ autre’ at the Musée des Arts Décoratifs this focus on the body. In addition, the summer of 2024 will inevitably be marked by the Olympic Games.
A sporting season, then, that translates into a palette rich in vitamins: yellow, orange, sky blue, turquoise green, mauve, but also ranges inspired by sports clubs, colors that are a little less caustic, more vintage, like red, reminiscent of the Roland Garros clay court; Green reminiscent of golf courses or blue reminiscent of a swimming pool.
Pixelated sky blue, digital magenta, fictitious coral, chlorophyll, azure – according to Première Vision, the spring/summer 2024 season is largely unfolding its differentiating potential. Its appeal is enhanced by the radiance of its hues.
The trend experts from Texworld take the principle of playfulness to the extreme and cheer: “What if the world had no meaning? What if our only purpose was to play? What if she’s just a giant ballet that our seriousness has kept us away from for too many years? We must, like the child, have playful eyes on this world. To the world and to ourselves.”
White, brown and blue: the return of natural colors
This re-enchantment of the female body takes place after a period of upheaval: the MeToo movement, or the need to cleanse the soiled; non-gender, or the desire to break through gender codes that are perceived as enslaving; and more broadly, the desire to break free, to be natural or styled to your heart’s content, regardless of the stereotypical aesthetics of social media.
In this context, all nuances of white are used: pure white, off-white, alabaster, cream, linen – based on the material, clay, rawhide, ivory, jasmine, or wax. The intense pigment colors, used to expressing the cheerfulness of summer, give way to muted, bleached or gray color palettes that moderate the palette, while the dark and very dark colors give it relief. Shades without additives are reminiscent of damp earth, warm soil and cold light, golden sand, raw wax, cold sun and mud.
“The interest in sobriety and practicality is leading to an increase in mid and neutral tones, related to lifestyle changes now anchored in the search for serenity and balance,” according to WGSN. “The earth tones refer to the importance of sustainable fashion, between nature and construction, tradition and modernity, from simplicity to sophistication,” as Peclers Paris puts it.
From terracotta to hazelnut, these hues have an inherent warmth and tactility that reference themes of authenticity and craftsmanship. Because of its color, brown can be combined with a wide range of natural and synthetic materials. And especially with blue, that at the gentlemen will be the leading color of spring and summer 2024.
According to Nelly Rodi, denim, indigo, medium, lavender, pastel, sea, sky blue bring people together. So, at a time of uncertainty and fear of chaos, it’s not surprising that the refreshing, soothing blue signals a need for horizons on the cusp of 2024.
This article was realized thanks to trend research by Nelly Rodi, WGSN, Carlin Creative, Peclers Paris and the material forums of the international textile fairs Première Vision and Texworld.
This article was published on FashionUnited.fr. Translation and editing: Barbara Russ