COLOURS OF THE SEASON
Resort 2026’s colour palette observes a fine balance between emotional warmth and a visual punch, focusing on colourways that can easily transition from autumnal wardrobes into summer edits. Within this narrative, rich hued burgundy has emerged as the season’s anchor, offering a deep, sophisticated tone that lends a sense of sophistication and mysterious appeal. It is the ideal shade for consumers who seek longevity in their purchases. Next up, we have pale pink that emerges as the softer counterpoint, bringing a romantic lightness to both day and evening pieces.
Contrasting this is bright red that brings forth unapologetic energy while commanding attention and adding a bold, fiery touch to otherwise restrained palettes.
These three colourways form a commercially viable direction – one that is versatile enough for trans-seasonal wear, emotionally resonant across demographics and visually adaptable for both core collections and statement capsules.
Burgundy
Burgundy continues its reign this season and starts its dominance early with Resort ’26, offering depth, richness and a sophisticated edge. This season, the deep toned hue moves beyond its autumnal roots to work as both a grounding neutral and a rich statement tone. Designers and high fashion brands are pairing it with other jewel shades, earthy greens and tonal variations to create layered, dimensional looks.
Antonio Marras Resort presented a burgundy and olive-toned nylon flight jacket that features stenciled florals and a checkerboard waistband that was teamed with burgundy pleated front trousers, while Etro showcased a burgundy brocade zip front jacket paired with an emerald green semi-sheer tiered dress and oversized belt. Ulla Johnson’s suede zip-front jacket in burgundy juxtaposed alongside a peach silk blouse and magenta ruffled skirt lent plenty of inspiration on how to mix and match hues belonging to the same colour families.
Bright Red
Bright red emerges as a bold, energising colour, setting a tone of confidence and fiery energy for the Resort season. This saturated tone is being styled in unexpected ways to create a statement, balancing alongside soft pastels to vibrant contrasts. This experimental take lends a sort of freshness for the transitional season. Roberto Cavalli presented a red wool jacket featuring pink lapels worn over a pink tuxedo shirt and bright yellow trousers, whilst Adam Lippes’ paired a sleeveless knit top in bright red with light grey wool pants featuring a pleated half-skirt overlay. Armarium red turtleneck satin blouse with dropped shouldered sleeves and a grey leather panelled skirt played around with form and fluidity.
Pale Pink
The pale pink hue injects a sense of softness and adds a romantic touch to the season’s playful palette, while balancing the bolder hues. The appeal of this whimsical colour lies in its ability to bring femininity into the narrative, without overpowering a look- rendering it ideal for layering and textural play.
On the runways, we see MSGM showcase a pink cotton lace bodice with matching bloomers worn under a zip-front jacket in cotton canvas featuring a floral print collar, while Balmain presented a pale pink cropped knit ribbed sweater worn with a Prince of Wales checked kilt that featured a gold buckle and yellow fur leg warmers.
PRINTS AND PATTERNS OF THE SEASON – 3D FLORALS, PLAIDS AND STRIPES
Resort 2026’s print story breaks the usual suspects and tweaks them to suit the season’s palate. We see plaid, stripes, florals and animal prints dominate the narrative with designers and brands ensuring they follow a seamless transition across seasons- a strategic move for collections that often live on retail floors from November through March.
This season, prints and patterns are being approached not as a seasonal flourish but as a long-wear staple, ensuring versatility when it comes to both colourways as well as motif play so as to ensure that garments can effortlessly bridge winter layering and early spring dressing. This adaptability reinforces the growing consumer preference for stand- out investment pieces that can effortlessly transcend the fashion calendar.
Flower Power
3D artificial flowers are leading the way this season, bringing sculptural drama and textural play to garments. Far from delicate, these blooms emerge as bold sculptural statements that add volume to garments while transforming them into pieces of wearable art.
Brands and designers have fully embraced the trend with Erdem presenting pink and red floral appliqués on a sleeveless satin top that was paired with a matching pencil skirt and Giambattista Valli showcasing pink and white pansies over a sheer bustier maxi dress that set the perfect example of merging femininity with softness and whimsy.
Plaid Please
Plaid continues to hold its perennial spot inside the rule book of designers and brands, valued for its heritage feel and adaptability across categories as well as seasons. Resort 2026 lends a renewed take on the trend by offering a fresh, lightweight approach that is essential for transitional dressing.
Be it Spring/Summer or Fall/winter, designers and brand’s play it safe with the plaid fabric and this season has been no different. Ferragamo’s lightweight cotton maxi sheath dress in green and white plaid featuring a high neckline serves as a perfect example while Tory Burch also makes a strong case with its blue plaid sheath dress wrapped around the waist.
Zebra Print
Zebra print emerges as the frontrunner of the animal print family for the Resort 2026 season, replacing last year’s hype surrounding the leopard print birthed out of the Mob Wife aesthetic obsession. With fresh, graphic energy, expect zebra prints and patterns to take over coats and other garments.
On the brand and designer front, Ferragamo tapped on the ’60s with a nostalgic take on the coat featuring a zebra-print pattern, accentuated with black fur hemmed sleeves. Blumarine’s semi-sheer zebra print top featuring standout orange embroidery, paired with a matching mid-length skirt serves as a perfect example of how brands can amp up the print by introducing embroidered and embellishments in contrasting tones. Khaite, on the other hand, showcased a zebra print knee-length coat worn over a sheer floral maxi dress.
Transparency
Sheer, see-through fabrics continue to lead, updated with all-over floral prints for an added romantic touch. Whether it be within dresses, skirts or blouses, transparency is a key anchor for Resort 2026, injecting newness in the form of feminine allure.
Double J presented a chiffon maxi dress featuring a plunging neckline and a purple and green scroll print, while Valentino showcased an off-the-shoulder chiffon dress with an all-over floral print in lilac and yellow. Khaite’s dress with wide straps, a drop-waist and pleated skirt makes a strong case for immaculate body flattering tailoring.
Linear Motives
A mainstay of the fashion world, lines are reinterpreted every season, reimagined for the consumers’ state of mind. Resort ’26 sees stripes receive a refined makeover, with designers opting for sophisticated layouts and an interesting play on colour. The season’s elevated stripes lend a more sophisticated look à la Zimmermann, who presented a button-through linen dress that features variegated stripes of many colours including blue, yellow and pink, while Gucci showcased a below-the-knee slim line dress featuring long balloon shaped sleeves and a pussy bow. The print was a black and red diagonal ribbon stripe on a green background.
Bibhu Mohapatra’s interesting round neck fit and flare dress with balloon sleeves secured with a looped belt had a variegated stripe of beige and orange on a cream base.
HANDBAGS OF THE SEASON
The handbag trends of Resort 2026 offer a direct sneak peek to the trends that are likely to dominate the upcoming Spring/Summer 2026 season, highlighting the handbag (and accessories) category’s crucial role in brand profitability.
It is a well-established fact that accessories – especially handbags – often deliver higher margins and wider market reach for brands as compared to apparel. And hence, the direction which the season takes matters as much to buyers as it does to editors.
The Resort 2026 season sees designers and high fashion brands alike, tilting towards familiar ground, reviving shapes that carry a sense of nostalgic charm as opposed to the dominance of experimental silhouettes in the past few seasons.
From structured top-handle bags that are reminiscent of mid-century elegance, to soft, slouchy hobo silhouettes that evoke an early-2000s ease, the spotlight shines brightly on timeless forms that have been rendered with a subtle twist – an approach that directly taps on the consumer appetite for emotionally resonant pieces and styles that feel both comforting in their recognisability and relevant in their refined updates – positioning these handbags as wardrobe investments with enduring appeal.
Below, we highlight the standout shapes and styles to note.
The Sack Tote
This season sees the classic tote being reimagined in the form of the unstructured sack silhouette, signalling a collective shift towards an effortless yet elevated aesthetic that resonates strongly with the steadily emerging casual-luxury mindset. Still true to its OG characteristics, the Resort 2026 tote bag offers generous space, rendering it an all-day companion – one that effortlessly balances functionality with quiet sophistication.
Baum und Pferdgarten unveiled a black leather tote with a handle embellished with large silver grommets, while Khaite reimagined its ‘Lotus’ bucket tote with a strap in zebra printed ‘ponyskin’ leather.
Ermano Scervino’s oversized ivory-coloured leather tote featured a detachable strap and key chain charm and is sure to resonate with Millennials and Gen Z alike.
The Croissant Shape
Nearly 30 years since the croissant-shaped bag first made its fashion moment courtesy Fendi, the half-moon silhouette makes a comeback proving yet again that archival silhouettes can be refreshed for contemporary wardrobes. This Resort 2026 revival of the shape is more sculptural and curvy in its appearance and offers a luxurious tactility with brands and designers leaning towards luxe yet durable materials.
Balmain presented a pink lambskin top-zip croissant bag with brown twisted leather handle and gold hardware, while Chloé showcased its version of the crescent bag in black suede, accentuated by rose gold hardware and embellishments.
Diesel’s take on the croissant bag included a leather version, featuring a multi-coloured no-print print, adjustable strap and a top-zip.
Woven Textures
The Resort season has long been associated with that which possesses a nomadic spirit and what brings the aesthetic to life better than artisanal weaves. With straw, raffia and rattan and anything ‘handmade’ emerging as natural complements to the season’s breezy fabrics, fluid silhouettes and travel-ready separates, bags made of these and other woven textures are proving to be bestsellers across continents. What’s more, these can be easily re-used for summer and any other vacation escape for the soul.
Blumarine showed black and cream textured bags featuring raffia trims and twisted metal and leather straps while Max Mara’s vacation-ready bags in rattan featured a hard case handbag with strips of black suede, a black suede gusset and bottom and handles.
Zimmermann also came on board with an oversized basketweave tote striped in green, orange and brown featuring with skinny leather straps and a long brown raffia trim.
Chanel presented a textured tan coloured tote bag with both long and short handles and gold hardware.
