While they may seem like fortune tellers, trend forecasters tap into societal shifts and human sentiments to discern which colors, textures and patterns will come into prominence in the future.
Though the height of the pandemic seems to be behind us, other global events and cultural shifts continue to create a sense of upheaval that influences the things we wear and how we outfit our homes.
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“We’re still feeling a lot of unrest and unpredictability mount around the world, and we’re led to seek softness in our own lives,” said Jaye Anna Mize of trend forecasting agency Fashion Snoops. “We’re turning inward to nurture our emotional and physical self.”
With that in mind, the team at Fashion Snoops looks ahead to spring and summer 2024, and even into 2025, identifying several shifts that will impact markets ranging from apparel to home in the coming seasons. Here’s what to watch.
Color cues
The desire for calm and a connection to nature continue to push the blue story, with multiple shades coming into prominence.
“The key color group for this season is the range of blues,” Mize said. “One of the key colors for the season is indigo—at Fashion Snoops we have what we call anchor colors, and it’s an anchor color for this season because it has such strong ties with nostalgia and these organic properties.”
Along with indigo, nature-inspired blue-green shades such as teal and turquoise also become important.
Following a general warming of colors that has been building for several seasons, neutrals continue to trend into shades of brown.
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“We’re no longer living in grays, and we’re really starting to see how warm the palette is getting with all these browns that are like skin tones,” she said. “We also love pairing them with primary heritage colors.”
Those heritage shades include earthy olives, vintage yellows and bright pops of teal and kelly green.
Tactile takes
Comfort and calm reign in the texture conversation, with an emphasis on wellness playing a major role in how fabrics are made.
“As materials continue to move toward lightness and ease, mills respond with more innovative wellness fibers and more takes on comfort-focused constructions,” Mize said. “Knits loosen to adopt a lighter and more pliant feel, while other wovens look to softer, natural inspirations with plush textures and cloudy colorations.”
The desire for sustainability and wellness plays out in a number of ways, from incorporating more natural fibers such as cotton and hemp to the way fabrics are woven.
“We’re seeing a lot of textiles bring in more healthy aspects, whether they’re air filtrated or have more of a natural approach without a lot of toxins,” Mize said.
Looking forward to spring 2025, Mize said the push toward comfort and blue color ways will produce a resurgence of denim.
“As we’re looking into spring ’25 we’re seeing things like denim become a really important texture in textiles,” she said.
Bella Hadid for Givenchy.
Pattern picks
The influence of nature, and the ocean in particular, permeates pattern trends for the coming year. Wavy, circular patterns reminiscent of bubbles and ripples continue to grow in popularity. And watery takes on other styles such as stripes and florals are coming on, too.
“Patterns are driven by water dye effects and core motifs that have been revived with watery vision,” Mize said.
That aquatic influence brings a softer flow to pattern, with the intention of further infusing calm beyond the application of soothing colors.
“We call it ‘zensory,’” Mize said. “It’s a lightness and visual optimism, marrying engaging and calming sensory conversations with more a zen-like flow in patterns and graphics.”
At the same time, the desire for nostalgia has brought back a number of classic pattern styles, from plaids and checks to ditzy florals in traditional shades of blue and brown. But don’t mistake these throwbacks for vintage redux—these looks definitely have an of-the-moment take.
“We’re looking at material and pattern application that has a bit of a ‘70s twist, but it’s more modern than where we’ve been before,” Mize said. “It’s this beautiful old-world charm in a modern-day style.”
While some of these trends may seem like carryovers from previous seasons, Mize said that’s a result of an overall slowing of the trend cycle following the interruption of the pandemic. She said that while new trends will still emerge, the turnover from one shift to another has slowed, creating more of a blend of old and new.
“Buying patterns are slowing down even across fashion,” she said. “Many consumers are craving slowing down.”
