S/S 26 New York Fashion Week Trends: Analytics

New York Fashion Week kicked off the S/S 2026 Women’s and Men’s fashion shows on Thursday, September 11, and ran till September 16. For each fashion week season, we use our AI image recognition tool, WGSN Fashion Vision, to analyse key data emerging from the runway.

WGSN Catwalks provides real-time data insights into the prevalence of colours and key pieces on the runways of New York, London, Paris and Milan. We also track year-on-year changes within the main fashion categories.

We highlight the season’s key category shifts based on exclusive analytical data from WGSN that will help you plan your next collection.

Womenswear Trends

At the S/S 26 New York Women’s Fashion Week alone, 95 collections were processed, 2680 looks were analysed and 4181 items were identified.

Dresses

Following a -1.9ppt decline on the A/W 25 New York Fashion Week catwalks, dresses increased +1.1ppt in S/S 26, buoyed by romantic, bohemian and demure dressing trends.  

Black

With a +3.4ppt increase, black reversed the -2.0ppt decline on the A/W 25 New York catwalks, playing an essential part not only as a core colour, but as a fashion colour for dark romance trends and as a key colour for floral and polka dot prints.

#GelatoPastels

The top trending WGSN Feed hashtag is #GelatoPastels. Pastels are incorporated into numerous key themes, including romantic stories, feminine updates to prep and sporty clubhouse trends and the softening of utility aesthetics.

Menswear Trends

Menswear data were analysed based on 51 collections, 532 looks and 932 items.

Brown

Dark browns (+1.8ppt) act as a commercial alternative to black for sartorial styling and low-key luxury stories. Golden browns speak to rustic narratives and are pivotal to the season’s earthy hues palette.

Red

Red (+1.5ppt) and other joyous brights refresh and energise perennial styles, particularly workwear shapes like the four-pocket jacket.

Trousers

Labels favour the seasonless versatility of trousers (+3.0ppt) over more seasonal shorts lengths (-1.3ppt), particularly within dressed-up resort collections.

#RedefiningMasculinity

Labels continue to push societal expectations of masculinity using pastel shades, delicate trims and playful prints for traditional workwear styles. For occasionwear, labels explore sensuality in menswear with diaphanous sheers and soft volume silhouettes.

WGSN Catwalks

Access all the catwalk analysis you need, from the live coverage to the post-show analytics, in a single, dedicated place. Powered by proprietary data, AI and human expertise, WGSN’s Catwalks experience delivers quick-response data and insights into emerging trends straight from the runway and the streets. 

Transform catwalk inspiration into the right products with confidence. Speak to the WGSN team to find out more.