Chartreuse: The vibrant yellow-green shade that’s keeping fashion fresh

Bright and vibrant, chartreuse is a yellow-green colour that’s shaping up to be one of the key shades of Spring/Summer 2025. Spotted on the catwalks as well as in the street, this refreshing shade stands out for its ability to work with a wide variety of styles, from sophisticated looks to more casual clothing.

The major fashion houses have adopted chartreuse in very different ways. At Prada, this yellow-green hue, named after a French liqueur, is seen in structured head-to-toe looks that play on satin and technical textures, with draped and sculptural dresses that focus on visual impact.

Gucci, meanwhile, explores a more retro style with an A-line dress in chartreuse-colored patent leather. Its shiny finish and clean lines evoke the fashions of the 1960s.

At Ganni, this shade of green lands in a more casual street-inspired style, through pieces such as a striped ribbed tank top or an oversized mesh T-shirt. Here, the shade adds a bold touch to laid-back looks, designed for everyday wear. This makes the shade feel particularly accessible, even to those who might be reluctant to try more eye-catching colors.

At Issey Miyake, the shade gets a more organic dimension. The Hempens dress combines a hemp-based fabric with soft, asymmetrical shapes, designed to move with the body. Dries Van Noten, on the other hand, explores a more feminine style, combining silk and lace details in contrasting colors.

How to wear it

Chartreuse green is not an easy colour to integrate into a wardrobe, but it nevertheless offers several entry points. Worn as an all-over look — be it a dress, a jumpsuit or a more formal suit, it makes for a striking, modern silhouette. This is the case with the GG canvas jumpsuit from Gucci, where the bright hue is combined with a retro cut for a look that is both sharp and accessible.

Blake Lively recently showed how to slip chartreuse seamlessly into everyday style. Photographed in New York last October in a chartreuse lace dress paired with a loose cardigan and dark thigh-high boots, she showcased a masterful urban look.

Another option — perhaps the simplest — is to adopt the shade in small touches, like a bag, a pair of mules, a textured top or a simple piece of jewellery. Gucci’s Jackie bag, in a chartreuse green hue, is a good illustration of this approach. It’s bright enough to make your look stand out, but easy to combine with other pieces.

In terms of combinations, chartreuse works well with neutral tones such as off-white, beige or light grey. For a more contrasting effect, it can also be accentuated by richer colours such as burgundy or purple. This was precisely the choice made by actress Anna Kendrick at the LACMA Art + Film Gala last November.

Her strapless Oscar de La Renta dress was matched with a burgundy velvet bow, which gave the ensemble real depth while letting the brightness of the yellow-green shade shine through.

A fresh shade for an instant update

The return of chartreuse is no coincidence. It is part of a broader movement in which bold colours are coming back into fashion, driven by two forces. On the one hand, there’s the current wave of nostalgia for the 1990s and 2000s.

On the other hand, there’s a more recent aesthetic that gained popularity on social networks through the phenomenon of “brat green” — a flashy shade of acid green synonymous with the cover of the Brat album by British artist Charli XCX.

But while a unique shade of green is all the rage today, it isn’t the first time it has enjoyed a moment in the fashion spotlight. In 1997, Nicole Kidman made an impression at the Oscars in a green Dior satin dress designed by John Galliano. The dress became iconic and helped to put green back on the agenda at major fashion events.

Since then, the colour has been revived and reinvented several times, and is now making a strong comeback in the form of the chartreuse shade — not only in Spring/Summer 2025, but also in fall-winter 2025 to 2026 collections, where it has been used by several designers.

This is further proof that this colour, once considered difficult to wear, is establishing a lasting presence in the fashion landscape.