Why grey is S/S 2026’s unexpected hue

When it comes to clothing, grey might typically be associated with the drab and the corporate – a uniform of neutrality to make its wearer go unnoticed (or, at least, fade away into the crowd).

Though this season, designers have embraced the non-hue for a grayscale wardrobe which twists up the office uniform in subversive style. Take, for example, Simone Bellotti’s debut collection for Jil Sander, where a pencil skirt in mid-grey wool was slashed across its front, recalling a Lucio Fontana canvas.

Or Prada, where the classic Prada uniform was mixed up with eveningwear in an intriguing collage, seeing epaulette shirts worn with opera gloves, or bra tops constructed in tailoring wool. ‘In the combination of the different elements, in this idea of composition, there is a choice and freedom,’ said co-creative directors Miuccia Prada and Raf Simons at the time. ‘It is fashion that is connected inherently to the world, with a meaning and usefulness.’