The Blue That Built Empires. And Is Taking Over Summer 2026.
Before it graced a single runway or adorned a single wrist, the blue of lapis lazuli was considered almost sacred. For thousands of years, the only source of true ultramarine pigment was a single mountain range in what is now Afghanistan, the mines of Badakhshan, making it rarer, gram for gram, than gold. Medieval and Renaissance painters guarded it jealously; it was reserved for the robes of the Virgin Mary, the thrones of pharaohs, the night skies of Vermeer. To wear or display this blue was to announce power, divinity, and extraordinary wealth. It wasn’t just a colour. It was a statement of status that most people would never, in their lifetime, be able to make.
The stone behind that pigment, lapis lazuli, has been prized for over six thousand years. Ancient Egyptians ground it for eye pigment and inlaid it into the funeral mask of Tutankhamun. Mesopotamian queens wore it as jewellery. The Silk Road existed, in part, to carry it westward. For most of human history, this deep celestial blue simply could not be manufactured, replicated, or democratised. It had to be mined, at great cost, from one of the most remote places on earth.
That scarcity shaped our collective relationship with the colour. Blue became the colour we reached for to express something beyond the ordinary, the infinite, the divine, the deeply beautiful.
Fast forward to 2026, and blue is having its most triumphant moment in decades.
Cobalt blue has emerged as the colour taking over runways and red carpets this season, being called the “new chocolate brown” by Harper’s Bazaar, a sign that fashion has finally tired of influencer-beige. From luxury runways and red carpets to mass retailers, the electric shade is suddenly everywhere.
The cultural moment has been building for a while. At London Fashion Week, the colour appeared in a glossy head-to-toe tracksuit from Natasha Zinko, and in a plaid dress with matching velvet buckled shoes at Tolu Coker’s Notting Hill carnival-themed show. On the red carpet, Chanel dressed newly-minted Oscar winner Jessie Buckley in a velvet cobalt gown at the 2026 BAFTAs, and Gap Studio sculpted Barbie Ferreira’s Oscars ballgown from an almost identical hue.
Then there was the moment that truly sent it stratospheric: Dua Lipa attended Elton John’s Oscars viewing party in a custom Gucci gown, with intricate strands of lapis lazuli beadwork covering every inch of the dress, right down to the hem. The stone that once adorned the tombs of pharaohs, rendered into a modern gown. Ancient material, entirely of the moment.
The colour feels fresh and exciting for the new season, dominating the spring/summer 2026 runways and showing no signs of slowing down through summer. As one fashion editor put it, “the colour wakes up an outfit the way caffeine wakes up a person.”
Sources
Marie Claire: “Why Cobalt Blue Is Fashion’s Biggest Color Trend in 2026” (March 2026)
Marie Claire: “2026’s Bold Cobalt Blue Color Trend Is a Perfect Match for Dua Lipa” (March 2026)
Marie Claire UK: “Cobalt Blue Has Already Emerged As The ‘It’ Colour For Spring 2026” (April 2026)
Hyphen: “Cobalt Blue: The Fashion Trend Taking Over Runways and Red Carpets” (February 2026)
Who What Wear: “Cobalt Blue Pants Are Trending for Summer 2026” (May 2026)
Who What Wear: “The Cobalt Blue Color Trend Was All Over Copenhagen Fashion Week” (August 2025)
Pop News Now: “Cobalt Blue: The Bold Hue Taking Celebrity Fashion by Storm” (March 2026)