Need inspiration? Explore these trending colours

Need inspiration for your custom cakes, baked products or bakery-café decor? Explore trending colours and the 2025 colour of the year, Future Dusk, a rich hue between blue and purple.

Acceleration is the overarching theme of WGSN and Coloro’s global colour forecast for autumn and winter 2025-26. As the climate crisis brings chaos and strange omens of decline (orange skies, green oceans), the report predicts we will see an acceleration of change, both good and bad. Urgency, repair and reassurance will be the new necessities in this new reality, and this is reflected in the trending colours:

Future Dusk is the Colour of the Year. 2025 will be the year of strategic imagination, when individual and collective creativity will be harnessed to generate new economic and ecological solutions. Future Dusk aligns with this theme, sitting between blue and purple, and bringing a sense of mystery and escapism through its dark and moody qualities. This surreal and otherworldly shade also has a celestial and futuristic character, inspired by the emergence of the second space age. It aligns with themes of moving from darkness to light,  dusk to dawn, preparing us for new horizons.

Other trending colours

Retro Blue is an offbeat, analogue colour with a warm and sentimental quality. It has an undercurrent of soft joy and innocence brought on by memories – aligning with the rise of kidults and nostalgic sentiments re-imagined among Gen Z.

Celestial Yellow is a glowing, luminous, multi-sensorial colour that feels both restorative and surreally off-kilter. It is reminiscent of the moon, the stars and the sun, and connects with the search for reassurance and guidance as people look to spirituality, astrology and astronomy in times of uncertainty.

Cherry Lacquer is a subversive dark with a luxurious appeal. In a world where niche is the new normal and outsiders are the new insiders, this colour looks to subcultures such as punk, metal and goth for inspiration, and has a sense of intimacy and pulsating intensity.

Neon Flare is a transient neon with a kinetic and synthetic quality. This luminous red has its roots in hazard and disaster signs but also has a nuanced edge to repurpose it as a colour of remedy – a warning to repair. Its charged character speaks to the need to come together and restore our spirits in a burst of communal effort and energy.

Learn more from WGSN and Coloro, which tracks various industries, including food and drink, fashion, beauty, interiors, advertising and media.