The Rise of Toothpaste Dressing! This Year's Color Even the 'Anti-Mint Squad' Will Love
From left: Sarah Pidgeon, Chanel small shopping bag. Johanna Parv 2025 S/S RTW, Paloma Wool 2026 F/W, Dua Lipa. Vogue
Pistachio green has already had its moment, and before that there was tomato red. For a while there was also a 'butter yellow' craze—at least until Hailey Bieber mentioned 'Lemontini.' The point is that food-inspired colors have often become trendy. Which food's color will the fashion world notice next?
The answer is very refreshing. A mint color that calls toothpaste to mind is the star. Wearing clothes the color of toothpaste—that is, 'Toothpaste Dressing'—is surging in popularity.
"It feels like being a mermaid!" said actress Sarah Pidgeon at a pre-Oscars event in 2026. She was wearing a Chanel sequin slip dress. Invited for the drama Love Story: John F. Kennedy Jr. & Carolyn Bessette, she was very fond of the mint outfit that Mathieu Blazy showcased in Chanel's 2026 atelier collection. "Look at that hue. Like toothpaste, right? Extremely chic toothpaste!" Pidgeon wasn't the only one in a mint dress. Around the same time in New York, Dua Lipa also wore a mint floral Roberto Cavalli dress paired with boots in the same color.
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Tones ranging from minty light green to shades nearing teal have actually been gearing up for a while. On the 2025 spring/summer runways, pastel mint green replaced the previously dominant blush pink to emerge as a representative pastel color. It was characterized by sheer layering and soft tone-on-tone styling.
That season Fendi presented lightweight, flowing organza dresses, and Chanel showed mint-toned tweed suits and transparent capes against a Grand Palais backdrop evoking a greenhouse. London-based Estonian designer Johanna Parv applied minty chartreuse to functional, sporty silhouettes, striking a balance between practicality and beauty.
Mint tones remained popular into that autumn as well, enough to crack the heavy, opulent color palettes of the fall/winter season. Givenchy and Stella McCartney applied mint to structured silhouettes and paired it with dark gray tailoring to create lighter-feeling winter looks.
And in the much-anticipated 2026 season, the range of mint expanded further. It met jade green with teal undertones and moss green—a yellow-leaning green—growing into a broader 'organic green' trend. Cooler blue-leaning tones joined the movement too. Simone Rocha's 2026 spring/summer collection featured pale blue chiffon dresses adorned with flowers and pearls, and Dior applied this hue to structural bubble dresses to emphasize more feminine silhouettes. The soft color palette gave designers a canvas to experiment with various notions of 'femininity.'
Chanel 2026 S/S RTW
Chanel 2026 S/S RTW
Without question, Chanel was the house that most clearly drew inspiration from and reinterpreted 'toothpaste dressing.' Mint accents appeared on pump toes, bags in a tooth-foam-like tone, crocheted skirts, belts, bouclé dresses, and tweed jackets—mint spread across the runway. Among reds, pinks, golds, and grays, mint felt particularly fresh and delightful.
Mathieu Blazy's first Chanel collection also provoked an enthusiastic response in actual retail, and mint played a big role in driving that popularity. "Thanks to Blazy, I'm really thrilled that bright mint is back," said writer Alice Betts. "Right now the number one thing on my wishlist is a mint Chanel small shopping bag. It's like a vitamin that freshens you up in the exact moment you need it. It becomes a playful, refreshing color accent."
Not only fashion houses but independent designers have quickly absorbed the mint trend. You can see this in the words of Hattie Tennant, founder of the underwear brand Fruity Booty. "Our creative director Jazz is totally obsessed with color. He jokes that he's 'dating' certain colors. Since around this time last year, he's been completely into mint," she said.
Fruity Booty began experimenting with mint from the 2025 fall/winter season. "Because of the design cycle it took time, but that meant our mint items launched at precisely the right moment. Colors naturally tone down in winter, and mint really elevates the overall mood," Tennant said, recommending styling a sea-mint bra peeking out from under a neutral sheer top or layering pale blue lingerie beneath a lace top. "Imagine a mint bra strap just showing under a gray knit. It feels so fresh and so 'fruity,' right?"
Mint flatters almost everyone and gives a feminine feel without being overly 'girly.' It's truly a distinctive color. Of course, styling it isn't always easy—done wrong, it can look like a hospital uniform. "Light blues or greens can be tricky. At a glance they can feel like medical wear," said Los Angeles–based designer Brooke Callahan. She addressed the issue through material choices while collaborating with the British brand Hai—specifically by using silk.
Fidan Novruzova 2026 F/W
Paloma Wool 2026 F/W
"Thanks to silk we were able to approach it much more luxuriously. Blues have a magnetic pull—they make you want to touch them or dive into them," Callahan said. True to this, the first color chosen for the collaboration was the mint-tinged 'Haze Blue.' "It felt fresh and soft, and it really suited this collaboration," said Hai designer Tessa Vermulen.
Designer Lucila Safdie also emphasized mint's appeal. "It suits every skin tone and adds fun without being overwhelming," she said. She applied mint to headbands—an it-girl staple—and used the color to create a collection that captured a melancholic yet dreamy girlish sensibility. She layered mint over pale yellow, raspberry, and purple micro-shorts, bodysuits, and polo shirts. Mint served to inject a streak of lightness and humor into a gloomy mood. Paloma Wool used mint in their 2026 fall/winter collection as an ironic point of contrast against restrained silhouettes.
Fruity Booty
Lucila Safdie
For some designers, mint is also a symbol of boldness. Paris-based designer Fidan Novruzova drew inspiration from the vivid color palette of Art Deco–era Polish painter Tamara de Lempicka for her 2026 fall/winter collection. Through structured shirts and hybrid sportswear she explored what 'modern femininity' might look like. She paired a mint shirt with long lapels with beige skirts and her signature chunky boots. She showed polo dresses that draped like long shawls and boleros lined in mint. Alongside red, caramel, and cobalt, mint expressed the most confident women Novruzova envisioned. "Thanks to Lempicka's work, I could use bold colors in this season's collection. Her self-portraits were the starting point," Novruzova said.
The clean-girl aesthetic that ruled for a while now seems to be losing steam. Romance and wit are returning to fashion. Whether you wear mint head-to-toe or as a small accent, 'toothpaste dressing' is a sign that we all want fashion with a story again.
At first it might feel intimidating. But as runway shows from fashion houses to independents have shown, this color is far more versatile than you might think. It can liven up a neutral look or push a bold color even further. Try it fresh and boldly. Even if you're on the 'anti-mint squad,' it doesn't matter!
Published: April 9, 2026
