General Concept: Spring Summer 2025·26
Footwear for the upcoming summer season will result from a harmonious balance between fashion, comfort, and functionality. Based on these principles, and considering climatic conditions, open styles will dominate -represented by slides, flip-flops, slingbacks, mules, clogs, and sandals- confirming the preference for flat, comfortable models. In this segment, ballerina flats, Mary Janes, moccasins, and urban sports sneakers also stand out, reaffirming this trend. In particular, designs are sober and minimalist, with occasional elegant touches, including metallic and gemstone accessories. These two final elements elevate classic sandal, slide, and flip-flop structures by adding greater fashion content. Summer also brings an extensive range of injected footwear, usually monoblock pieces, extremely lightweight, flexible, and ergonomic, with brand-name design.
For women’s high styles, stylized heels are gaining ground over platforms, while sports lines are clearly leaning toward retro and vintage designs.
Open, fresh, natural, and handcrafted textures will be the most sought-after features in materials, fabrics, and knits for summer footwear. Among them, interwoven and braided materials, nets, meshes, tulle, crochet, and mesh knitted fabric confirm the artisanal look. A special mention goes to raffia, which will appear massively in multiple single- and multicolored interwoven versions. Canvas, denim, gabardine, microfiber, linen, and cotton complete the textile offering for original summer styles. These will generally feature solid colors or various prints -stripes, florals, and fantasy motifs- with contrasting and tone-on-tone effects.
As for leather, there is a strong preference for suede finishes, mostly in pastel colors. These are followed by embossed, interwoven-look, geometric, and decorative finishes, or directly punched and perforated leathers. At the same time, metallic finishes in silver and copper stand out in different versions, including mirror-smooth and aged effects.
Lastly, reinforced materials (ripstop) and elastic fabrics (elastane) will be used in sporty and casual lines for their greater durability and comfort.
Thin soles -flat or with minimal heel- are clearly dominant for a wide range of lightweight flip-flops, slides, and sandals. In these cases, the focus is more on the overall product than the sole itself. Thicker versions include flat soles and “scatolados” kits with anatomical insoles. The Birkenstock concept -anatomical and ergonomic- is present across this entire segment. Many soles are available to be lined, while others are covered with jute straps and interwoven materials.The range is completed with injected soles, flat or wedged, with subtle side moldings and textures, and occasional welt applications. Profiles can be flat or with a suggested heel. Outsoles may be track-patterned or serrated.
Cupsoles of various heights and textures remain a staple in casual and urban sport models, though a new trend includes slimmer soles or light wedges for retro-vintage sport sneakers.
Chunky soles are still present, and in women’s high-heeled footwear, new shapes and stylized heel designs are being introduced.
The color palette for the coming season plays with two opposing ideas that ultimately form a delicate balance between vibrancy and brightness, and calm and elegance. On one side are subdued saturated tones of orange, yellow, red, green, and blue; on the other, pastels take the lead, soft, floral, and romantic.
Burnt orange and khaki, pumpkin, carrot, and tangerine are paired with cadmium yellow, carmine red, jade green, and Klein blue as the more intense representatives, while among the softer tones are peach, blush pink, lavender, mint green, and baby blue.
There’s an intermediate range of warm, creamy grays and beiges, highly functional for various more current products. Among the classics, jet black and graphite, along with pure optical white, are offered as main tones or to complement others.
Given its strong expressive and emotional value, color requires creativity to achieve new combinations that sensitize users and give products identity.
