The final Seasonal Colour Analysis of 2025 and the first ColourAddict post of 2026

The final seasonal colour analysis of 2025, and the first ColourAddict post of 2026, is dedicated to all the dreamers out there, especially the delightful Rebecca Palladin.

Like many women who find themselves in my seasonal colour analysis chair, Rebecca is standing at a crossroads. Recently returned to Italy after working for over a year on Fifth Avenue, at the job of her dreams supporting Italian fashion brands in the U.S., she is now immersed in a period of creative evolution, refining her expertise through collaborations with leading voices across the world’s fashion capitals.

Growing Up Near Turin, Between the Alps and Design

Hailing from a small town near Turin, Rebecca grew up surrounded by two very different kinds of beauty: the inimitable cosmopolitan elegance of Turin and the awe-inspiring natural landscapes of the Italian Alps. Her hometown boasts a castle, and there is something about Rebecca herself that embodies both a wholesome, fresh Alpine breeze and a romantic strain of fairy-tale castles.

She herself is beauty incarnate, discovered at just fifteen by a local boutique owner and going on to work professionally as a model.

Milan, Fashion Industry Studies and an Eye for Beauty

A self-described aficionado of all things beautiful, from art and architecture to everyday aesthetics and what she calls “the poetry of detail,” Rebecca graduated from linguistic high school during the COVID years. Even while still a high school student, her professors frequently remarked on her instinctive sense of style and encouraged her to pursue a fashion-related career.

Her timing proved impeccable. The Milan university she chose launched a new course that same year, blending fashion and design with marketing, communication, and business. There she studied everything from art history to budgeting, while immersing herself in Milan’s fashion and design weeks. Milan offered her both structure and exposure, and confirmed that for her, fashion was not just aesthetic but also strategic.

New York, Fifth Avenue and Fortune Favouring the Bold

After university, Rebecca travelled to New York City one summer, determined to perfect her English. Naturally shy, she nonetheless took the brave step of travelling alone and was rewarded with quickly formed friendships, particularly with a young Parsons Design student who inspired her deeply.

Yet this was also a fragile period. Coming of age during COVID and struggling with a difficult breakup, Rebecca sensed that, as both a dreamer and an ambitious young woman, something was missing. She realized she was craving new experiences and, in a moment that perfectly illustrates how fortune favours the bold, Rebecca attended a fashion event and decided to introduce herself, overcoming her innate shyness.

“I thought, ‘They don’t know me, I don’t know anyone, but I’ll just go in and introduce myself.’”

What followed changed everything. The kind woman who received her immediately recognized her Italian accent and invited her to sit down. An instant rapport blossomed, and this kind stranger offered to serve as a mentor.

“I don’t know what’s going on,” she told her, “but I really need help and you’re perfect. You can model, you can help with the system, and you understand the market.”

In that instant, Rebecca knew this was exactly what she wanted to do with her future. She returned to Milan after her summer language experience in New York with renewed vigor and a clear sense of purpose. After completing her university studies, she returned two years later as an intern, ready to embark on her fashion adventure.

Her experiences there allowed her to understand fashion from a wholesale perspective, learning about seasonality and the many steps both before and after collection launches. She met buyers from across the U.S. and beyond, observing cultural differences between Palm Beach, Texas, London, California, and Latin America, reflected in everything from color choices to style.

Fashion, Color and the Power of Transformation

Modelling the garments themselves deepened her understanding of color and fit, and of how clothing can transform the wearer, transporting you from a snowy New York showroom one minute to a tropical paradise the next. It also helped her understand how different clothes work on different bodies, how color changes presence, and how fashion creates emotion and imagination.

“Now that I am back in Milan,” she says, “it is strange but beautiful to walk through Milan and see the same brands I was selling in New York displayed in showrooms under my building. Life connects things in unexpected ways.”

Returning to Italy with an Eye on the Future

After graduating, Rebecca returned to New York to continue building her professional path. There, she faced new challenges in the form of cultural differences when her initial boss changed.

“The first boss was Italian, almost like a mother figure. She taught me everything gently. The second was American, very focused, very direct, and very work-oriented.”

“At first, I couldn’t work with the American boss because I didn’t know enough. I needed to learn first. But everything happened at the right time. I took the best from both experiences. Passion is essential, but patience is just as important.”

Further cultural differences continued to shape her growth.

“One of the biggest challenges was understanding how different American customers are from European ones. In the U.S., people express themselves very freely through clothing. It’s not about judging. It’s about understanding their needs.”

“Living outside of a bubble changes you. When you grow up in one place, your perspective can be limited. Seeing how different people live, dress, and choose helped me grow both professionally and personally. Fashion isn’t just about clothes. It’s about culture, identity, and emotion.”

“Everything I’ve done so far feels connected, like pieces of a larger puzzle. I don’t know exactly where I’ll be next, but I know I want to continue building something meaningful.”

A Thank You, and a Dedication

And so, while I would normally dedicate more space here to Rebecca’s Cool Winter palette, and to how her instinctive go-to navy blazer paired with a crisp white shirt is perfectly aligned with her natural coloring, this post is instead a thank-you.

A thank you to Rebecca for her youthful enthusiasm and determination, both heartening and infectious, and for her passionate curiosity and quiet bravery, which remind us that courage often reveals itself in the smallest, most decisive moments.

It is also a dedication to all the fellow lovers of beauty, all the dreamers and inspired observers.
May 2026 bring us not just an abundance of beauty, but also the courage to step outside our comfort zones and leave room for the magic of serendipity.