‘La La Land’ dressing is in: How to wear primary colours in 2026
Director Damien Chazelle was looking at old Technicolor movies when creating the distinctive look of his 2016 film, La La Land. Chazelle wanted the “most vivid colours” he told Variety, and clothes that could “pop”. As a result, stars Emma Stone and Ryan Gosling wore bright, primary colours throughout the film: La La Land fans will remember the iconic yellow dress that Emma Stone, as Mia, danced in, or the fireman red jacket that Ryan Gosling, as Seb, sports during his first conversation with her.
10 years later, La La Land dressing has become an actual thing. Primary colours dominated the Spring/Summer 2026 fashion shows, imbuing clothes with more personality than Pantone’s Colour of the Year ever could. Decades after inspiring Yves Saint Laurent, the red, blue and yellow of Mondrian’s paintings now appear across collections from Celine, Chanel, Prada, Loewe and more.
At Celine, Michael Rider injected new life into the French fashion brand with his use of energetic colour across his first two collections. Pops of yellow and green added a dose of quirk to his smart, sharp tailoring. A flared jacquard minidress, later worn by Ariana Grande and Greta Lee, stood out with its red, yellow and blue flowers. The same trio of hues was splashed across covetable Celine accessories like silk scarves, boxing shoes and even cycling helmets.
Rider used colour more boldly than his predecessor, Hedi Slimane, ever did: see the sunny yellow cashmere sweater knitted with Celine’s Calèche emblem, in blaring red. (If that yellow-and-red combination seems familiar, it’s because it also appears on the viral Dracula-inspired Dior Book Tote from Jonathan Anderson’s debut.)
Rider’s use of blue and red—both colours seen on the French flag—is a clever way of emphasising Celine’s heritage. For former Proenza Schouler designers Jack McCollough and Lazaro Hernandez, those lively colours were a way to convey a sense of optimism in their Loewe debut.
The designer duo were particularly inspired by American artist Ellsworth Kelly’s 1989 painting, Yellow Panel with Red Curve, which was displayed at the Loewe show. Along with the artwork’s bright yellow and red hues, blue and green appeared across Loewe’s moulded nappa leather jackets, glossy leather minidresses, and fresh iterations of the Flamenco and the Amazona 180 bags.
Those Loewe looks demonstrated how you can make an impact with a single colour. Meanwhile, over at Jil Sander, designer Simone Bellotti used colour-blocking to create visual interest in his minimalist looks. (Remember when Raf Simons, inspired by Yves Saint Laurent, did the same during his Jil Sander days?)
For his Jil Sander debut, Bellotti layered red and blue sweaters over each other, and paired mock-neck tops in those colours over pencil skirts in black or white. Tops in cobalt blue—the same shade used in the new Jil Sander x Puma K-Street sneakers—peeked out from under blazers and coats, offsetting the seriousness of the tailored pieces.
Other fashion designers are likewise enthralled by pure, punchy colour this season, including Ralph Lauren, who broke up the black and white palette of his collection to include looks entirely in red; Matthieu Blazy, whose first Chanel tweed suits are accented in Gabrielle Chanel’s other favourite colour, red; and Haider Ackermann, whose Tom Ford show somehow made a colour like green look sexy.
The message of the Spring/Summer 2026 season is clear: play with your primary colours. Hollywood stars are already getting in on the trend. Throughout The Devil Wears Prada 2 press tour, Anne Hathaway and Meryl Streep have been sporting reds and blues, doing so subtly (see Hathaway’s Valentino Spring/Summer 2026 haute couture gown) or loudly (Streep’s Chanel ensemble). We’ve even seen the return of a certain cerulean sweater.
This article was written by Pameyla Cambe and first published on Lifestyle Asia Singapore on April 8 2026.