Forget Every Other Trend—These Are the 5 Colours I'll Be Trying This Spring

As someone who has limited their palette to that of neutrals for the past few years, my New Year's style resolution is to broaden my colour horizons for 2023. I told this to my colleagues who, by now, are very familiar with my penchant for all things beige and brown and, elated, they asked me which colours I'm keen to explore. To this, I didn't have an answer. Of course, I know what colours are "in"—scrolling Instagram is a legitimate part of my job, so I'm always aware of what's currently trending—but in terms of guessing the fashion colour trends that would dominate 2023, I'd be doing just that—guessing. 

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(Image credit: @monikh)

I don't like leaving things up to chance, so I took it upon myself to find out which fashion colour trends are set to be big news in 2023. How? By scanning 200+ runways, that's how. Unlike other trends, which you need to examine with almost microscopic precision to discern, colour trends are more obvious to spot at a glance—especially the bold ones, which literally jump out of the webpage. I surveyed over thousands and thousands of runway snaps and now, I can confidently say that these five shades were the most prevalent in the new collections. For a quick way to make your outfits feel fresh for 2023, I suggest you start wearing these tones pronto. 

1. Violet Haze

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(Image credit: Courtesy of Cecilie Bahnsen, Christian Wijnants, 16Arlington, Nensi Dojaka)

Style Notes: It might not be Pantone's Colour of the Year for 2023—Viva Magenta—but I'd argue the shades of violet and lilac that populated a surprising amount of runways this season are even chicer. 

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2. Black Magic

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(Image credit: Courtesy of Cecilie Bahnsen, A.W.A.K.E. Mode, Coperni)

Style Notes: Okay, so I know what you're thinking—black isn't really a trend! I get that, but when it featured in so many layered and top-to-toe outfits across the entire spectrum of runways, it's definitely noteworthy. Especially as this is spring/summer we're talking about. 

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3. Lime Wedge

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(Image credit: Courtesy of Rejina Pyo, Victoria Beckham, Christian Wijnants)

Style Notes: I spoke to Morgane Le Caer, fashion expert and content editor at Lyst, who told me that, since September's Fashion Month shows, "there was an average of 39,000 page views each month". If that's not indicative of this zingy shade of lime green, which cropped up in all the major collections, being one of the biggest fashion colour trends for 2023, I don't know what is. 

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4. Blinding Whites

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(Image credit: Courtesy of Chanel, Adam Lippes, A.W.A.K.E. Mode, Batsheva)

Style Notes: Akin to the black category above, I'm sure some of you will argue that white is not a "trend"; it's timeless. Here in, however, lies its power. Designers made white feel even fresher by exploring it in various fabrications—everything from silk to vinyl—and that's precisely how we should be wearing it this year. 

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5. Siren Saffron

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(Image credit: Courtesy of Ferragamo, Alaïa, Alexander McQueen, Adeam)

Style Notes: If lime green isn't for you, there's another bold fashion colour trend for 2023 you can consider—saffron. This vivid shade of red was hard to ignore in the latest collections, and was mostly worn top-to-toe by way of suiting, dresses and hosiery. 

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This story was published at an earlier date and has since been updated.

Next Up: Spring/Summer 2023 Fashion Trends: The 21 Looks You Need to Know About

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Maxine Eggenberger
Deputy Editor

Maxine Eggenberger is Who What Wear UK’s Deputy Editor and has over fourteen years of experience in fashion journalism. She been creating engaging and authoritative content for Who What Wear UK since 2018, covering runway reports, emerging trends, long-form features, talent interviews self-styled shopping stories and columns, including her edit of the best new-in buys. She ensures the highest editorial standards are met across the site, leads the editorial team in their search and keyword planning, works closely with the fashion and beauty team on strategy and continues to pen many of her own articles. Prior to Who What Wear UK, Maxine's contributed to publications including Grazia, InStyle Marie Claire, Elle and Look, amongst others.