Fashion people share their most-worn colour of the year
IMAGE VIA @elbeefrivolousfashion/INSTAGRAM
words by daisy henry
From fuchsia to baby blue.
Of the countless runways, fashion events, concerts and photoshoots we’ve attended this year, the overwhelming colour and pattern-clashing we observed made it hard to believe ‘Cloud Dancer’ was declared Pantone’s 2026 Colour of the Year.
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If anything, fashion is feeling increasingly less defined by a consensus and more by individuality. So we put the call out to some of our favourite people in the fashion community, asking them if they could crown their own colour of the year, what shade would take first place?
Jessika Swarbrick, production manager and designer at Variety Hour Studio
My colour of the year has been green, with my most worn item this year being my Picnic Plaid Alice dress from Variety Hour. I love wearing all different colours but find this green incredibly wearable as I can style it for any occasion with tan, chocolate, cream, denim or black outerwear and accessories.
I’m really enjoying more mossy and earthy tones instead of the bright, kelly or ‘bottega’ greens I would have gravitated towards a couple of years ago. If you find colour hard to style, this softer shade of green is definitely one of the easiest to start with.
For 2026 I am loving peony pink. I have a T-shirt this colour from Cos that I am finding easy to style with all different colours and prints in my wardrobe and I almost always get a compliment when I wear it.
Muskan Sharma, digital creator
If there was ever a colour that represented India and the people there, it’s pink. Not just any pink but fuchsia, especially a rosey-fuchsia for me. As a strictly neutrals girl in Melbourne, I rediscovered my love for the more joyful colours when I went to India for my cousins wedding this year.
Everything from the stationary to flowers were adorned in warm pink and berry tones. I hired a traditional Lehenga in this particular shade for the wedding night. Speaking to the boutique owner, she told me that it was hand embroidered and dyed by artisans, so it felt like that specific fuchsia was truly one of a kind and carried so much history.
It also happened to suit my skin tone so beautifully, so naturally it’s become my whole personality even back here in Melbourne. I love that I can very easily incorporate these tones in my makeup everyday so I don’t need to throw away all my neutrals to embrace my love for the pink! It’s a reminder of how colourful my home is.
Josephine Ainscough, graphic designer and digital creator
I’ve been really loving baby blue this year. I’m a true blue lover (check my Instagram for my credentials), but historically I’ve always been drawn towards deeper tones: royal blue and cerulean (Devil Wears Prada fans, yes hello). Lately though, as the weather has warmed up baby blue has quietly become a throughline in my wardrobe without me even realising. It just keeps popping up.
A long sleeve from St. Agni here, a lace dress from Oats the Label there and suddenly it’s everywhere. What I love most is how easy it is to wear. This pale, washed-out blue is almost a neutral, and so easy to pair back with the greys, blacks, whites and creams already in my wardrobe.
Lauren Brodie, digital creator
This year, I was seeing red, with the hue carrying me from warm, coral-inspired summer fits right through to cosy cherry-red knitted sweaters in winter. It cemented itself as the perfect pop of colour in my wardrobe, working with everything from classic neutrals to the more unexpected candy-hued pink-and-red combo.
Two of my favourite red wardrobe pieces this year came in the form of accessories. My red knitted bonnet and Caitlin Snell bow bag added just the right amount of practicality and fun to my transeasonal outfits, becoming a bit of a cheat code whenever a fit was looking a little boring.
Looking ahead to next year, I’m expecting a shift towards cooler tones. Teals, ice blues and soft silvery greys are firmly on my radar. That said, the biggest focus will be on wearing what I already own and love – one of the many benefits of having a very bright (and very overflowing) wardrobe.
Candy Brat, digital creator
My colour of the year is definitely sea-foam green. It’s not quite green, not quite blue but perfectly in between. My obsession started at the end of 2024 with the purchase of my favourite Vivienne Westwood Yasmine bag and a vintage leather jacket, both in a matching shade of sea-foam green. This obsession has continued all throughout 2025 and it has become ‘my colour’ so much so that my friends send me photos of sea-foam green coloured things to say they are thinking of me.
If I had a colour combination of the year, it would be sea-foam green with peachy pink. In my outfit above, I’ve paired my favourite Vivienne Westwood handbag and vintage leather jacket with a vintage slip dress in a perfect peach colour. And my Cakey Sportsman pants and Suku button belt compliment the colours perfectly. I suspect my obsession with this colour combination will continue into 2026.
Holly Villagra, branded content and production coordinator at Fashion Journal
I hate to be that girl, but the truth is, my colour of the year is black. Maybe it’s because I just moved to Melbourne and the cliché is seeping into everything I wear, maybe it’s my comfort zone. Or maybe it’s because whenever I wear it, I get told I look vaguely like Charli XCX, which only makes me wear it more. Either way, black makes me feel moody, mysterious and undeniably sexy in a way no other colour can. So if I’m serving the full Melbourne trope… then so be it.
Harriet Nixon, digital creator
As a colour girlie since day one, I was shook to my core when I saw 2026’s colour of the year. Picture me in the Pantone boardroom yelling I object! I object! For the second, please know I respectfully disagree with the choice.
When I was thinking about what my personal colour of the year was, I decided to go straight to the source – my Instagram feed! It was so clear that it was chartreuse, especially after seeing how much I wore my Ruby NZ Rodeo Maxi Skirt. What I love about this colour is sits somewhere between yellow and green, so it goes with so many other colours. It is such a versatile colour and wrap skirt with a drop seam on the waist, which forms the most beautiful silhouette.
For 2026, the colour that I think I will be wearing a lot of is fuchsia rose. It’s the shade I think I am going to be drawn to because it adds a vibrant, modern edge to even the simplest looks.
Lara Daly, senior editor at Fashion Journal
I wouldn’t normally go near orange but something switched in me this year and I’m fully converted, to the point where I genuinely swooned at Kylie and Timothee’s matching look, while everyone else in the office looked horrified.
It all started with a secondhand Proenza Schouler tie-dye top that called out to me on the racks at Swop. The minute I put it on, it just felt right. Then I visited Karla Laidlaw to find something to wear to Melbourne Fashion Week, and I fell in love with her pumpkin-coloured Lulu Dress. It’s a colour that gives me energy and reels in the compliments.
Jessica Alizzi, digital creator
Somewhere between burgundy and wine, deep cherry red has quietly become my colour of the year. It’s woven its way into my wardrobe, my home, even my nail colour. There’s something about this shade that feels grounding yet indulgent: rich without being overpowering, bold but never loud. What may have started as a more trend-driven choice has settled into a true staple.
For me, this colour functions almost like a neutral but with far more depth. It pairs effortlessly with greys, navies, denim, and of course my go-to black, instantly making even the simplest outfits feel more considered. This bag, in particular, feels like the perfect expression of that energy. It’s undeniably a statement, yet endlessly versatile. If 2025 had a colour, for me, this would be it.
For a history of Pantone’s ‘Colour of the Year’, try this.
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