At Heuritech, we harness the power of AI to decode what’s next in fashion. Our trend forecasting platform analyzes colors, shapes, prints and fabrics up to 24 months in advance with 90% accuracy. Using image recognition applied to social media, we detect emerging signals in real time – helping brands anticipate shifts before they go mainstream.
In this article, we explore standout color stories identified through our forecasting technology shaping 2025-2026 – shades that are not only visually compelling, but also meaningful reflections of evolving consumer values, aesthetics, and purchasing behavior.
October 2025: Hues of Brown
Brown made a decisive comeback this year, emerging as one of fashion’s most influential chromatic stories. From rich chocolates to soft cinnamons, brown proved its relevance far beyond autumn — signaling a shift toward grounded elegance and renewed material sensuality.
In October for women in Europe, according to Heuritech’s trends forecasting platform, spotlight wasn’t on a single hue, but on an entire spectrum of browns gaining strong momentum, each contributing its own sensibility:
Heuritech’s Trends Monitoring data – Women EU, Oct 2025 vs Oct 2024
The shade’s popularity was further validated when Pantone named Mocha Mousse the Color of 2025 — aligning seamlessly with Heuritech’s own trend identification of Tawny Brown as a key hue shaping the year. Blending multiple brown shades — from cool coffee tones to spicy cinnamons — has become a key styling strategy, introducing thoughtful monochromatic layering that embodies contemporary sophistication.
Over the past three months, brown outerwear rose by +24%, showcasing the shade’s dominance in coats and jackets. Footwear and bottoms followed closely, with brown boots up +30% and brown lifestyle pants up +25%
This top-to-toe adoption underscores brown’s cross-category appeal and its ability to merge functionality with modern aesthetic warmth — from utilitarian outerwear to everyday essentials.
What truly sets brown apart this year is its seasonless impact. Heuritech’s insights show that brown hues retained strong visibility throughout the entire year, proving that this color family resonates well beyond fall dressing and holds powerful year-round relevance.
Hues of Brown speak to a broader shift in fashion psychology — a desire for grounding, comfort, and authenticity. In an era defined by minimalist aesthetics and material tactility, brown offers emotional depth without excess, sophistication without flash, and timelessness with a contemporary edge.
Whether used in tonal layering or as a neutral anchor, brown embodies the essence of refined simplicity. It’s a color story that resonates across demographics, particularly among edgy, style-driven consumers embracing elevated basics and thoughtful coordination
November 2025: The Allure of Plum
Plum — a deep, sensual hue redefining quiet luxury this November. Spotted from the streets of Paris to SS26 runways, Plum brings richness and refinement to fluid dresses, tailored coats, and cozy knits alike.
According to Heuritech’s latest insights, Plum grew by +21% among women and +8% among men in Europe in Q4 2025, with tops showing the strongest momentum across both genders.
Identified as a comeback color with medium magnitude, Plum blends nostalgia and contemporary elegance — the perfect reflection of today’s balance between minimalism and self-expression.
While Plum takes center stage, Heuritech’s data shows that adjacent purple-red hues are also gaining traction, each offering a distinct twist on sophistication:
Heuritech’s Trends Monitoring data – Women EU, Sep-Nov 2025 vs Sep-Nov 2024
These hues demonstrate consumers’ growing appetite for refined, romantic tones that bridge statement and subtlety. Layering them together — or pairing them with neutrals like cream or taupe — is emerging as a key color-blocking strategy, blending quiet luxury with expressive individuality.
Heuritech’s color analytics reveal that Plum and its complementary purples are increasingly featured in top brands’ collections, including Alaïa, which showcased multiple takes on the hue this season.
Beyond aesthetics, Plum captures a broader movement in consumer psychology — a desire for warmth, sophistication, and authenticity in a fashion landscape defined by both restraint and sensuality. It’s the evolution of quiet luxury, expressed through tone rather than logo.
December 2025: Cobalt Blue Takeover
Cobalt blue is confirmed as one of the major standout color trends for the upcoming SS26 season, making a bold return on international runways. Its striking, electric intensity offers a fresh alternative to more muted tones, signifying a cheerful and optimistic mood in fashion. The trend is versatile, seen in everything from statement outerwear and sleek suiting to sophisticated dresses and playful accessories. To incorporate the color, we suggest wearing it head-to-toe for maximum impact or pairing it with neutrals like white and black, or complementary colors such as deep green or burnt orange, for a modern, fashion-forward look.
According to Heuirtech, the color has shown strong traction in Europe past month, with the color itself (+21%), Cobalt Blue jersey tops (+16%) and pants (+22%) driving growth. In the U.S. the trend also performs well for jersey tops, but both domestically and globally the color and pants have seen a decline in visibility over the past month. However for all Geozones, the color is having either a Big or even Massive magnitude which reflects it still holds strong market potential.
This season, blue tones have gained renewed relevance, with each shade introducing its own unique nuance to modern style. The blue spectrum, ranging from bold, saturated statements to softer, airy interpretations, is making its presence felt across diverse consumer segments.
Heuritech’s Trends Monitoring data – Men EU, Dec 2025 vs Dec 2024
According to data from Heuritech, Ultramarine Blue is the standout performer, projecting a +6% growth over the next 12 months in Europe, primarily driven by younger male consumers and an edgy market positioning. Meanwhile, both Celestial Blue and Pastel Blue are showing a stable +2% growth for the same period. Celestial Blue has a fluctuating profile with wide age appeal, its small magnitude and versatility allowing it to be a subtle but growing mid-tone. Pastel Blue is the only stable shade at this growth rate, and its soft, trendy appeal is popular among fashion-forward segments, offering a gentle contrast to the intensity of Ultramarine.
As fashion continues to evolve, color remains one of its most powerful storytelling tools. Through Heuritech’s AI-driven analysis, brands gain visibility into emerging chromatic narratives well ahead of market adoption – transforming intuition into measurable strategy. Brown and Plum are just two examples of how data-backed color intelligence helps decode cultural mood, refine product design, and guide collection planning with precision and foresight.
January 2026: Cinnamon Awakening
Cinnamon emerges as a key color story for January, marking a refined evolution within the broader brown color movement. While brown has been gaining momentum for over a year, Cinnamon introduces a warmer, more nuanced direction—defined by reddish and amber undertones that feel both contemporary and comforting. Rich yet versatile, Cinnamon reflects a desire for grounded elegance and tactile warmth, aligning perfectly with winter dressing and transitional wardrobes.
On the runways and across digital platforms, Cinnamon is appearing in structured outerwear, elevated knitwear, and statement accessories, offering a sophisticated alternative to darker, heavier browns. The shade lends itself particularly well to tonal looks, where it can be layered with other warm neutrals, or paired with cream, camel, or even muted blues for a modern, balanced silhouette.
According to Heuritech, Cinnamon has shown strong traction among women in Europe over the past month, with the color itself up +28% and Cinnamon outerwear increasing by +32%, highlighting its relevance in seasonal categories. The shade is also identified as a Rising Star among Edgy consumers, reinforcing its fashion-forward appeal. In the U.S., Cinnamon performs notably well in dress shoes (+16%), confirming its adaptability across product types. By contrast, menswear in Europe continues to prioritize deeper brown tones, such as Chocolate, which has seen a +41% increase over the past month.
Looking ahead, Cinnamon is forecasted to grow +10% over the next 12 months and +20% in Q1 2026 vs Q1 2025, underlining its sustained potential rather than short-lived hype. This momentum is further supported by adjacent hues within the warm brown family. Chestnut Brown is projected to grow +12% in Q1 2026, driven by edgy consumers, while Oak Brown shows +11% forecasted growth, positioning it as another Rising Star among both Edgy and Trendy segments.
As fashion continues to explore depth and emotion through color, Cinnamon stands out as a modern expression of warmth—rooted in familiarity yet elevated through data-backed relevance. Through Heuritech’s AI-driven trend forecasting, brands can clearly track how nuanced brown tones are reshaping the market, transforming subtle chromatic shifts into strategic opportunities for product development and collection planning.
February 2026: Purple Red Reign
Purple Red is dominating the fashion landscape as the standout it-color of the moment, blending the richness of burgundy with subtle violet undertones for a sophisticated yet bold statement. This innovative take on classic burgundy brings a warm purple twist that feels both timeless and refreshingly modern. The color’s versatility shines through in its most popular applications: purple red leather jackets (+15%) and the season’s defining styling trend of tone-on-tone dressing, where different Purple Red hues are layered together for monochromatic impact or coordinated into matching suits.
According to Heuritech data, Purple Red has demonstrated impressive momentum with +18% growth in visibility over the past month among women in the EU and +6% among men. Classified as a Rising Star trend, it represents a major movement that has been building momentum over recent years while experiencing a significant recent surge. The color resonates particularly well with trendy and mainstream consumers across all age groups. Looking ahead to Q1 2026 in the EU among women, Purple Red is projected to maintain its upward trajectory with an anticipated +11% growth in visibility compared to the previous year.
Beyond its runway appeal, Purple Red has carved out a notable niche in activewear, particularly among women practicing pilates and yoga, demonstrating its cross-category relevance. To style this season’s must-have hue, embrace the monochromatic moment by mixing different shades of Purple Red for a cohesive, editorial look, or anchor it with neutral basics to let the color take center stage. Whether in statement leather outerwear or coordinated suiting, Purple Red offers a refined alternative to traditional reds while bringing unexpected warmth to winter and early spring wardrobes.
