Yellow, red, and grey are among the choice colours for your winter wardrobe

Gray, yellow and red are among the essential colors of the winter season, as seen at the Michael Kors, Gucci and Dolce & Gabbana autumn-winter 2023 shows. Image: Angela Weiss/Miguel Medina/AFP

Black, gray, brown, and navy blue are traditionally the colors we turn to for our winter clothes. But this year could be an exception. While gray seems set to be one of the season's star hues, it will be accompanied by much brighter, more vivid colors such as yellow, red and metallic shades. Just the thing to boost morale.

Winter wardrobes are often associated with subdued neutrals—beige, brown, black and cream—perhaps with a hint of khaki green thrown in the mix—but this winter, women will be able to reap some of the benefits of dopamine dressing while staying on trend. Dopamine dressing refers to a colorful wardrobe—with lashings of pink, yellow, orange, red, blue, green, and even neon tones—that has the effect of stimulating the creation of the pleasure and happiness hormone, dopamine. For once, designers have been generously integrating color into fashionistas' wardrobes for the Autumn-Winter 2023-2024 season with vibrant, energy-boosting hues. A wardrobe like this should provide a boost against the ambient gloom often associated with the shorter, darker days—at least that's the hope.

Gray, an exception

Of course, winter isn't winter without one neutral color in the spotlight, This year, that's gray -- sometimes considered dull, but also synonymous with elegance. Often a perfect match for the weather as days get shorter, gray clothing is winning over brands and consumers alike. According to fashion search engine Stylight,* clicks on ready-to-wear pieces, accessories and shoes in this color have increased by 17% in one month, and by 24% over the last three months, testifying to consumers' interest in gray. And they're not alone, since many of the world's leading fashion houses, including Prada, Fendi, Tod's, Michael Kors and Tory Burch, have made gray one of the flagship colors of their Fall-Winter 2023-2024 collections. It's the neutral hue to work with in various outfits either paired with brighter hues or on its own all season long.

Red in the spotlight

Anyone craving something punchier in a season associated with dull tones can opt for more vibrant colors, such as red, which the major fashion houses have given a starring role to this year. Milan, Paris, London... the color of passion made its mark on the runways of three of the world's fashion capitals, including at Valentino, Balmain, Stella McCartney, Dolce & Gabbana, David Koma and Bettega Veneta. All the more reason to bring this romantic yet bold color into your wardrobe, since red will also probably take pride of place on your bathroom shelf with a number of beauty products. Red wine makeup and cherry makeup are among the most popular current beauty trends on TikTok, with 2.5 million and 45 million views respectively.

Also read: From Osaka to Quebec City: Top picks for winter travel in 2023

Yellow makes a surprise showing

More surprisingly, yellow also played a major part on the catwalks of Fashion Week dedicated to Autumn-Winter 2023-2024, particularly in London and Milan, although Valentino also got attention for a long coat in this sunshine-filled shade in Paris. Yellow's significant presence this season is reminiscent of the 'Lemon Girl' trend that has been causing a stir on social networks, and on beaches, all summer long. Lemon yellow, mustard yellow, canary yellow, imperial yellow or even mimosa yellow, if you're looking for inspiration for how to wear this hue in the middle of winter, don't hesitate to take a look at the collections of Gucci, Ferragamo, Diesel, Erdem and David Koma, to name but a few.

Stand-out alternatives

If you're not a fan of gray, red or yellow, what should you look for? Gold and silver are usually go-to colors of the winter season, especially in the run-up to the festive season, but this year other metallics and iridescent shades, as seen at Rick Owens, Gucci, Giorgio Armani and JW Anderson reign. And of course, black remains a must, but this season it's best to combine it with either brighter shades or white, as seen at Chanel and Valentino.

*Stylight has over 1,500 partner stores, 120 million online shoppers per year and 15 international markets. For this report, the platform analyzed its users' search behavior on a monthly basis between May 1 and October 31, 2023, to highlight increases in click-throughs compared to last month and over the last three months compared to the previous three months.

-Christelle Pellissier