Why Digital Lavender will dominate 2023

From Digital Lavender to Galactic Cobalt, here are the key colours to build your palette for the year ahead.

Amid the pandemic in 2021, WGSN and Coloro forecasted Digital Lavender as our Colour of the Year for 2023. This sensorial shade is linked to calmness and serenity, pushing it to the forefront now that restrictions have been lifted and consumers are prioritising health and wellbeing.

As brands and designers look to answer the consumer desire, this purple pastel will infiltrate our everyday lives, appearing in products from the clothes in our wardrobe to the devices we use and even in those screens. In this episode, WGSN’s Executive Editorial Director Bethan Ryder, WGSN’s Head of Colour Urangoo Samba and Coloro’s Creative Content Lead Caroline Guilbert take a deep dive into Digital Lavender and other key colours for the year ahead.

The psychology of colour

“Up to 90% of snap judgments made about products can be based on colour alone. With Digital Lavender coming into force in 2023, we forecast it at first for references of stability, serenity and digital escapism. It’s a sensorial shade that connects to holistic wellbeing and digital optimism we’re speaking a lot about these days.

“This shade poses that much-needed cautious optimism and escapism people are craving post-pandemic and during this polycrisis era. And even in times of budget crunch, it gives an imaginative and creative outlet, but also speaks of hope and balance.”
– Urangoo Samba, Head of Colour, WGSN

Opening surreal worlds

“Going beyond what it evokes emotionally, there’s also an imaginative aspect. It’s effortless, surreal and even otherworldly. For example, Avatar has a lot of scenes with that pearl purple glow, the palette is evocative of more emotional or calming moments when it turns that soft purple.

“But this colour also reaches into uncharted territories, even the supernatural, in terms of movies but also different ways of thinking such as genderless topics. Lavender has that unconventional characteristic. It’s still accessible and approachable, so it’s extremely versatile.”
– Caroline Guilbert, Creative Content Lead, Coloro

To hear the full discussion, tune into episode 69 of our Create Tomorrow podcast, Why Digital Lavender is the Colour of 2023, on Anchor, Apple and Spotify. For more forecasts from the brilliant minds at WGSN, download Top Trends for 2023 & Beyond.