Use my ‘Good Buy Guide’ for Summer 2023 colors and fabrics to help you make the right choice for your clothing brand.
If you’re new here, I’m Oren and I advise major brands, private equity, venture capital, and individual creators on what they should be doing with their brands to set them apart. Today’s guide focuses on colors and fabrics to use for your Summer 2023 clothing lines.
Let’s take a look…
Activewear, sportswear, fashion, shoes, and accessories… As a clothing brand, you need to know what’s hot and what’s not to stay trending this summer.
This Good Buy Guide for Summer 2023 colors and textiles includes early Fall fashion predictions, and suggestions on sustainable fabrics that’ll keep ’em coming back for more!
Fabric Colors To Avoid for Summer 2023
These are the colors you should absolutely not be using as the primaries for your brand’s collections for this summer…
Watch my TikTok short below on brand colors not to use this summer, or scroll to keep reading the expanded version right here:
Charcoal
This color has absolutely dominated this past Winter, and will continue to dominate this coming Spring. However, by the time we hit Summer 2023, we’ll have hit peak saturation. There’ll be no charcoal, no shadow colors, going into summer for your brand.
Pink
I wasn’t going to say pink, but honestly… We’re entering an era of elevated maximalism and Y2K maximalism somehow still hasn’t hit the top. Avoid pink as your solo core color this Summer. As a member of the other colors, pink is still good to use.
Oatmeal
This is a middle-brown kind of color. We cant stop the cream wave, and the dark brown wave is also doing just fine, but this kind of middle-ground oatmeal color – and a couple of shades left or right of this – should be avoided.
Green
This is an olive-to-camo green, one that you’ve seen on all of the jackets. I know everyone loves this color and it’s great for Winter, but we’re headed for peak saturation this fall. It’s not going to be the color to use so don’t run with this particular shading this summer. Rather use hunter green or super light green.
Trending Color Guide to Summer 2023
My go-to reference that people are ahead of the game on the right colors for Summer 2023 is Lorenzo G and studi.log with their patented color schemes. They haven’t posted anything since December though, so I imagine they’re in the lab cooking up something new.
Watch my TikTok short below on trending colors for Summer 2023, or scroll to keep reading the expanded version right here:
Here’s the colors we’re going to see everywhere come Summer 2023, and a little glimpse of what to expect in the fall…
Orange, Lilac, and Blue
Overall, we are in the era of absolute maximalism right now, probably till at least the end of the year. This means you’ll need to use aggressive, standout colors like wild orange, clashing lilac, and deep cobalt blue – all of which has been around all winter long and its not going anywhere until next winter.
Red
We’re not going to be able to escape super strong and bold red. Its already been thrust upon us constantly in most goods, but the brands themselves haven’t quite made the move over to it yet.
Purple
Still, lots of shades of red and purple. In the spirit of maximalism, we’re going to be seeing scenes and all kinds of extra stuff all over clothes. It will likely be the end of it all of this by next winter, at least for what’s cool. For now, this is what’s happening in Summer 2023.
Gold
And a sneak peak of the late fall… We’re going to see an awful lot of gold come Summer 2023. Rich and deep, accessorize with jewelry that complements.
This summer, you can find success with a whole variety of these colors and color combos but its all about what’s right for your brand and your garments. Overall, I would say play into this era of minimalism while its still here.
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Materials to Avoid When Launching a New Clothing Brand
These are materials and fabrics you should look to avoid when you’re starting your fashion brand.
Watch my TikTok short below on Summer 2023 fabrics and materials to avoid, or scroll to keep reading the expanded version right here:
Bamboo and Rayon
Do not use bamboo. The process of converting bamboo to rayon – which is what you actually end up wearing – releases a ton of chemicals. Patagonia actually did a study on this way back in 2004 already. I wouldn’t recommend using it as a material for your brand… even though it sounds cool.
Wrinkle-Free Fabrics and Cloth
While these may sound like a good value proposition, the process with which they’re made uses formaldehyde, a flammable, highly toxic gas that’s used:
- in the production of fertilizer, paper, plywood, and some resins
- as a food preservative
- in everyday household products like antiseptics, medicines, and cosmetics.
Repeated exposure to formaldehyde can cause leukemia and cancers of the mouth, nose, and throat, while also irritating the skin. You don’t want that against your consumers’ bodies!
Nylon and Polyester
These two fabric blends just have a really negative impact on the environment. If you’re going to use these fabrics, ask for recycled nylon and polyester, which is surprisingly easy to get. Most manufacturers can supply that for you.
RELATED READING
CDC Medical Management Guidelines for Formaldehyde
Sustainable Fabric Guide for Summer 2023
Instead of using the harmful fabrics and materials mentioned above, I would focus on using hemp, linen, or cotton.
Hemp
A sustainable textile that’s made from stalks of the cannabis sativa plant family, hemp is traditionally used for ropes and sails. Interestingly, bamboo and hemp are among the fastest-growing plants on the planet now.
Probably the most versatile and durable natural fibers you can get, hemp is rather scratchy against the skin to begin with, but weathers nicely and becomes softer with every wash. Be warned though that this fabric wrinkles easily.
Linen
A natural fabric that’s well-worn in hot, Mediterranean climates, linen is a flax-based textile that’s made from fibers of the stems of the flax plant. Linen is well-known to be a strong and absorbent fabric that dries faster than cotton and some other materials.
Best grown in Northern Europe due to the hot and muggy climates, it’s best to source high quality linen from European manufacturers and factories in countries like France, Germany, India, Italy, and Ireland. For bulk linen orders, look at China and parts of Eastern Europe. However, Belgium is generally regarded as the best producers of linen due to the optimal climate for flax growth.
Cotton
Regarded as one of the most common fabrics around for centuries, cotton is natural cloth created from the bolls of cotton plants. It’s available in a wide range of weaves, making it a versatile and sustainable textile to use in just about any climate.
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Thank you for reading this Guide for Summer 2023 – the fabrics and color edition!
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– Oren
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