WGSN + Coloro: How the Key Colours are chosen

How do you determine the Key Colours and how far ahead do you forecast them?

At WGSN, colour is informed by our STEPIC framework, which analyses trends in society, technology, the environment, politics, industry and creativity to gain a deeper understanding of future drivers, innovators and consumer behaviours that could impact trending colours. 

How do the Key Colours impact the market?

A good example of our Key Colours and Colour of the Year having a great impact on the market is in 2021, when WGSN and Coloro called out Digital Lavender as a shade to watch, naming it Colour of the Year for 2023. This purple hue, embodying a crisp coolness and soft femininity, gained momentum throughout the seasons. In 2023, Digital Lavender was everywhere, spreading from the catwalks to nail polish, car and iPhone shades, to even featuring on Taylor Swift’s album.

How do WGSN and Coloro work together to select these colours?

At WGSN, we work with Coloro’s extensive library of over 3500 colours during our seasonal colour workshops to help us find the exact colours in our palettes. Coloro books are organised in a logical way, making it super easy for our team to navigate during the workshop when we’re finding colours, analysing them and scaling up and down the lightness and saturation until we eventually find the exact shades that work across all of our industries. This then leads us to select the colours for our seasonal palettes. Coloro is the leader in colour excellence and colour provider for the world’s most innovative brands.

What makes the Colour of the Year stand out among other colours?

The Colour of the Year emerges from the WGSN Global Colour Workshop, which our experts from fashion, consumer tech, sports and outdoor, interiors and beauty participate in. This collaborative effort results in the selection of the Colour of the Year. The colour must have versatility across all industries and regions.

Our STEPIC framework strengthens and substantiates the insights provided by our experts and we work with the WGSN data team to analyse millions of data points to confirm the insights provided. It’s important for us to go through a rigorous process to choose the Colour of the Year so that we can ensure that the colours we predict will be successful in the diverse markets we serve.

Now that you know how the colours are chosen, click here to download a sample of our Key Colours A/W 26/27 forecast.

Want access to the full report? Click here and schedule a demo with WGSN experts to discover the importance and influence of colour.

About Coloro

Coloro is the new way to work with colour. Our logical colour system pairs unlimited colour with complete control, giving designers the freedom to create and execute colour with total confidence.

Coloro provides unlimited actionable colour opportunities, all logically organised and easily searchable by hue, lightness and chroma. Move from indigo to teal in a breeze, knowing every colour represented could define the next sellout product. The Coloro Universal Colour System works everywhere, on everything and with everyone, making sure you start every project with the world’s most accurate colour system, trusted by leading brands and innovators.

Discover more on coloro.com