TFL Colour Trends Spring-Summer 2028

Welcome to TFL’s new Colour Trend Catalogue for the season Spring-Summer 2028. In this brochure we present the colour trends for leather garment, footwear, accessories and upholstery.

Wearing

We begin our journey heading towards brighter horizons for the tanning sector. Leather is still part of footwear collections, as it has been in the past, especially with splits and sheepskin and goatskin chamois, in intense and bright hues typical of tropical fruits or underwater iridescence featuring light blues and bottle greens.

Thus, goatskin and its variations printed on calfskin or African cross-stitch leather are back in fashion with the classic 1970s appeal which saw them paired with wooden wedges, patchwork-patterned textile scraps or multi-striped cotton cords.

In the sports sector, two different trends stand out: on the one hand, the boat shoe made of water-repellent sides for more technical needs or in soft waxed classic chestnut brown shades of calfskin, leather and khaki clearly recalling the 1980s.

At the same time, the nubuck leather trend is also rapidly gaining momentum, using cowhide for the more affordable sector and European calfskin for the luxury sector. It is soft and velvety with stain-resistant finishes and is easy to clean thanks to very thin and tenacious resins combined with elegant waxy silicones for soft, ultra-flat sneakers in the most neutral shades, combined with rosé, strawberry and black cherry tones.

In the luxury leather goods sector, lambskin is the most sought-after and successful raw material, consolidating its position on the market thanks to increasingly soft and compact tanning processes and tear-resistant polymer and resin solutions. The calfskin tanning industry is also continuing its pursuit of this raw material, achieving lighter weights through use of the aforementioned polymers and the reduction of fatliquors derived from the petrochemical sector, resulting in a specific weight that is closer to customer demands.

In the daily-wear leather sector, vegetable-tanned leather is the iconic leather for the next season. It’s been a long time since we’ve seen it in shop windows or on the shoulder bags of girls or elegant fashion-victim ladies, so much so that it comes in shades of orange, citron yellow and mustard leather, cut and sewn inside paper patterns full of pockets and hiking belts.

Provençal dresses in bright floral hues and impressionistic designs are back in fashion, along with lace and increasingly thin and elegant denim. Belts are making a comeback as a pampering accessory, again made of natural vegetable leather, embellished with the inevitable South American engravings or woven with soft natural python or tortoiseshell patterns.

Living

Discreet, reassuring, unfazed by trends but designed to last, this is the living area favored by all families and young globetrotting couples for the foreseeable future. Travertine, light woods, and the ever-present white complement metallic inserts and mirrored surfaces, along with the soft natural grains of chrome-tanned South American cowhide in satin-like natural shades or the sophisticated velvet effect created by soft polyurethanes combined with gentle silicones, create a relaxing overall look.

The aim is to create an idea of understated elegance, featuring brushed calfskin armchairs and soft sofas in pin-grain printed cowhide and tumbled calfskin in pastel shades for more neutral and representative spaces, while the same identical textures are dyed in the more saturated colors of cadmium yellow and lime green for more avant-garde spaces.

Suddenly, the leather stiffens, revealing its most authentic and vintage buffered full grain leather attributes when combined with aluminum and oxidized copper surfaces for the seats of larger kitchens or in the almost evanescent carbon fiber table tops or in the wainscoting of hotels or in the studios of professionals or companies attentive to their image.

In the real estate sector, verandas, terraces, and living rooms are making way for a clear desire for open spaces in which to entertain, spend an evening with family, or just fall asleep. Sofas and cushions in soft tumbled nubuck or with stonewashed finishes are among the most sought-after materials, also supported by innovative stain- and scratch-resistant solutions.

In bedrooms, soft Nappa leather immediately takes center stage. Cationic finishes, aniline-rolled effects, and a wide selection of natural textures and top coats are top of the customer list at a time when we all want to be able to cradle and protect ourselves.