Introducing our print selections and color palettes inspired by the Fall/Winter 2025 runways. Bold florals, animal prints, sporty stripes and plaids, psychedelic and retro patterns, gradients, and more — you’ll find inspiration for activewear, swimwear, kidswear, and other fashion collections.
The unique prints highlighted in this blog post are available for order and customization on our high-quality fabric bases. View them in our exclusive trend library — contact your fabric specialist or email us for access.
Bold Tropical Florals: Midnight Oasis
Carried over from the Spring/Summer runways, bold and scaled-up tropical floral prints remain trendy for the colder seasons. Fashion designers have moved beyond dainty, ditsy flowers, embracing big, punchy blooms that feel fresh for fall and winter. These florals often appear on dark or rich backgrounds, offering dramatic contrast and adding a maximalist, optimistic flair to athleisure wear and swimwear designs.
Color Palette
High-voltage hues like hibiscus pink and mango orange pop against deep bases are dominant. Combinations like hot fuchsia with lush leaf green on black backgrounds bring energy, while darker neutral colors like navy and espresso brown provide balance. The result is bold, modern florals — perfect for statement activewear sets or eye-catching swimwear prints.
Wild Animal Prints: City Safari
From leopard spots to zebra stripes and snake scales, animal prints continue to reign in Fall/Winter 2025 fashion collections. This season’s runways embraced remixed bold zoological motifs, giving animal prints a new life. Designers mixed and matched patterns, for example, pairing luxe leopard coats with slinky snakeskin dresses. These prints are popular across generations, from kids and teens to adults. Many kids’ brands even incorporate colorful animal prints for a playful twist.
Color Palette
Traditional animal tones and bold new colorways appeared on the Fall/Winter 2025 runways. Classic leopard was shown in warm golden browns and black colors, while snake and zebra prints leaned into monochromes like icy gray, sand, and off-white with black markings. Designers also introduced high-voltage variations, such as neon-accented cheetah spots and python in deep teal. These vibrant twists are especially popular in activewear and ravewear, where a flash of color amplifies the visual impact.
Sporty Varsity Stripes: Athletic Revival
Athletic-inspired stripes, infused with collegiate cool, are a standout trend for Fall/Winter 2025. Designers are mixing bold stripes with abstract geometric patterns to create gritty, textured visuals reminiscent of chalk art or graffiti. Rugby-style stripes — broad bands of color traditionally seen on jerseys and varsity scarves — have made the leap from the locker room to high fashion. “Go-faster” racing stripes are appearing on everything from track pants and tube socks to polos and tees. The look even transcends sportswear, with brands pairing striped athletic tops with skirts or tailored pants for a polished high/low mix.
Color Palette
Team colors drive the palette. Classic combinations like navy and cream, maroon and gold, or emerald and white create a strong visual contrast. A popular scheme is rich athletic royal blue paired with bright white for a crisp stadium stripe. Another feature is bold collegiate combos, such as deep maroon red with athletic gold. The key is pairing two or three strong colors in solid bands. Whether used in activewear sets or swimwear, these stripes deliver an energetic, sporty feel.
Heritage Checks & Plaids: Timeless Redux
Classic check patterns are making a strong statement for the Fall/Winter 2025 season. Fashion designers have found fresh ways to incorporate geometric checks into their collections, blending nostalgic motifs with unexpected colors and scales — fresh interpretations on plaid influenced by classic tartan, argyle diamonds, and checkerboards. These prints work across categories, appearing in menswear, womenswear, and even kidswear, where slouchy plaid and colorful argyle updates bring new life to familiar designs.
Color Palette
Designers are exploring two directions: earthy heritage tones and bold, bright accents. Rich fall hues like deep burgundy, ochre yellow, and mocha brown lend a vintage ’70s vibe to classic checks. In contrast, updated argyles feature surprise color pops — such as charcoal grey bases crossed with neon pink or electric blue — for a modern edge. These reinvented checks feel familiar and fresh, whether in activewear sets or kids’ uniforms.
Retro Psychedelic Prints: Trippy Time Capsule
The psychedelic spirit of the 1970s comes alive in Fall/Winter 2025 prints. Designers are creating a kaleidoscope of patterns by boldly combining retro elements — swirls, waves, and op-art geometrics — often within the same outfit. Groovy influences abound, from Pucci-like curvy motifs to trippy florals, all mixed for maximal impact. This print trend resonates with the party and rave scenes and youth fashion, where self-expression takes center stage.
Color Palette
The guiding principle is “the more color, the better.” Designers mix earthy ’70s tones — burnt orange, olive green, mustard — with vibrant brights like magenta, turquoise, and violet colors. A single print might blend sunset orange, fuchsia pink, and acid green into a swirling, eye-catching pattern. Pucci-inspired swirls with tangerine, royal purple, and lime also make appearances. In activewear and swimwear, neon versions are trending: saturated coral, electric yellow, and aqua blue blended into psychedelic tie-dyes.
Artistic Abstracts & Brushstroke Prints: Abstract Emotions
High fashion takes a turn toward the art studio in Fall/Winter 2025: many fashion collections showcase artistic, abstract prints. These patterns appear hand-painted or collaged — broad brushstrokes, blurred watercolors, splatters, and surreal compositions that look as if they were lifted straight from a canvas. This trend infuses garments with a fine art sensibility, adding whimsy, emotion, and individuality. It ranges from dreamy and romantic to bold and avant-garde. While ideal for statement pieces like flowing dresses, these prints also find their place in casual wear, such as activewear and kids’ clothing.
Color Palette
This print trend thrives on creative freedom. Some designers leaned into vibrant primaries and high-contrast tones: cobalt blue, canary yellow, and crimson red, reminiscent of an abstract expressionist painting. Others embraced moodier, blended palettes, with shades like ink blue, wine purple, and smoky gray. Metallic touches also emerged, offering a gilded, painterly finish.
Ombré & Gradient Effects: Spectrum Shift
Ombré is the smooth gradient transition from one color to another — this technique continues to inspire fashion designers in 2025. Its appeal lies in versatility: it can be soft, serene, bold, and high-contrast. This season, flowing color fades added depth and a dreamy quality to prints across collections. For Fall/Winter, ombré often mimics natural elements like sunsets and twilight skies, bringing warmth to cold-weather garments. The effect also resonates in swimwear—sunrise and ocean gradients — and in festival wear, where rainbow ombrés dial up the energy and fun.
Color Palette
By nature, ombré incorporates multiple colors. Sunset and fire-inspired gradients lean on warm, high-energy tones — blazing red fading into orange and gold. Pastel and dawn ombrés, on the other hand, use cooler or muted hues like peach, lavender, and sky blue to create a calming effect. Earthy blends — such as olive green to burnt brown — lend a rustic, grounded vibe to fall pieces. Regardless of the tone, the key is a seamless transition. This color palette approach is ideal for activewear and swimwear, such as a bikini that shifts from turquoise to purple or leggings that fade from pink to orange.
Playful Novelty & Youthful Graphics: Pop Art Playground
This trend is a burst of playful, novelty prints fueled by youth culture and the desire for individuality. Fall/Winter 2025 runways reflect what trend forecasters call “Teen Spirit” — a fun, expressive approach to fashion where bright prints and bold layering replace minimalism. This trend is especially prominent in kidswear and teen apparel: clothing becomes a canvas for imagination, whether it’s a jacket covered with smiley faces or a dress adorned with cosmic galaxies. The rule is simple in rave and party scenes — the more eye-catching, the better. Expect holographic graphics, glow-in-the-dark motifs, and nostalgic ’90s references.
Color Palette
Bold, youth-driven shades dominate. Primary colors and candy-like brights make these prints pop — fire-engine red, sunshine yellow, candy pink, and electric blue often appear together. A typical palette may include comic book-inspired tones like hot pink, vibrant blue, and zesty yellow on a neutral base for contrast. Neon accents — lime green and neon orange — are standard in ravewear. While pastels appear occasionally, they’re usually paired with bolder tones to avoid feeling too muted. The guiding principle is high contrast and saturation for a look that feels fun and full of personality.
Download this trend report in PDF
Create Your Unique Designs to Stay Ahead in the 2025/2026 Seasons
The Pine Crest Fabrics team has developed exclusive patterns inspired by the prints highlighted in this blog post. If you’d like to order or customize any of them for your collection, our in-house art and design team can create a custom print specifically for you, available when using one of our printable fabric bases.
Learn more about our fabric printing services here.
Sources:
whowhatwear.com, harpersbazaar.com, fashionweekdaily.com, theprintschool.com, maisonette.com, heuritech.com
