WGSN's four calls for the spring 2027 runways

The first spring 2027 fashion trends forecast arrived before a single show. On 25 August 2026, three weeks before New York opened the season, WGSN's Catwalks Senior Strategist Kim Cupido published a short piece naming four directions she expects to dominate the womenswear runways. Think of it as a forecaster showing her working in public.

The evidence behind each call is what has been building on previous runways and in street style. Copenhagen had already offered one set of answers in August. Once the big four are done, checking which of the four landed and which didn't is the useful part.

New Glam: leather, animal print and rock glamour

WGSN describes this as an edgy shift on the runway, where a rebellious counterculture mood meets sleek, high-octane glamour. The reference points are Saint Laurent's aesthetic, 2010s supermodels and rock culture.

In clothes that means slimmer, body-conscious silhouettes, low-rise cuts, and leather outerwear and separates. Animal prints return, with cheetah spots and snakeskin on dark slinky satin and lace-trimmed slip dresses. WGSN calls the mood "disheveled yet sophisticated" and reads it as an early signal for darker, more opulent stories to come.

Spring 2027 trend New Glam: leather jacket, animal print and a bra top

Free-Style Expression: pastels and clashing patterns

This one has been gaining from runway to street style. It plays with suburban dress codes through a self-styled lens: kitsch nostalgia, home-comfort references and interior-inspired palettes mixed with loungewear.

Pastels, dreamy florals and tactile fabrics get paired with offbeat styling, such as graphic tees, clashing patterns and unexpected footwear. WGSN files it under maximalism and sees it as a precursor to future self-expression trends.

Put-together City Dressing: preppy, relaxed

Preppy and sartorial codes are reworked into a soft, adaptable way of dressing for every day. Less literal varsity, more relaxed city prep, soft utility and refined silhouettes that go from work to dinner without a change.

The prints are perennials: polka dots, plaids, foulards, layered pattern on pattern. WGSN's case for it is commercial longevity: it sells for a long time without looking dated.

Romantic Vintage: sheer slips with rough edges

Romance keeps its commercial pull for spring 2027. Sheer slip dresses, lacy sets and fluid maxis carry barely-there tonal prints, soft-focus florals and fine freckled textures.

The update is in the finishing. Raw edges, asymmetric trim placement and spliced construction add what WGSN calls "considered, imperfect character," so the heirloom look doesn't tip into sweetness.

"A forecast doesn't need to be right on every count. Its job is to make you decide, before the first show, what you're actually waiting to see." — Guushu Design Team