Six Cities at Your Fingertips With Mavala Maestra
text Maura Van den Borre
Autumn begins, and between the thick sweater and rolled-up sleeves there is still room for a flash of red raspberry pink. MAVALA’s new Maestra Autumn/Winter 2026 collection leaves us the freedom to choose the colours of the season , six shades waiting to meet us as we go a little playful with our outfits during cooler days. A more serious colour scheme can act as perfect background for that unexpected pop of colour at the edge of your vision.
Music inspires these shades, where each of the six has found a city that reflects its rhythm and character. Festivals, psychedelic tunes and night-long dancing are the background of a palette that varies between quieter undertones and stronger accents. Just how the season wants to be worn does not seem to exist, freedom lies in choosing per day, per outfit and whatever tickles your fancy at the moment.
Warm and inviting raspberry pink from Capri finds a darker match in the city of Montreux, where the mood is violet. Inspired by evenings spent live and near the lake. Medellín joins in with a vibrant orange, a strong character with energy to spare. San Francisco, the home of the iconic flower power movement, wears a lighter lilac with a gentler touch. White from Bratislava cuts across the otherwise darker tones with a youthful clarity. To wrap it up, a midnight blue inspired by electronic music and nights out in the city complete the collection.
The colour palette consists of a few options with varying approaches to autumn fashion. Lilac could brighten up a heavy knit, but orange seems more likely to catch eyes. Midnight blue speaks for itself, as a colour for nights out, but it doesn’t have to join a morning coffee. It is your choice to decide on the role of each shade in your autumn wardrobe, and the fun of it all lies in that decision.
Adding to the colour theme, the announcement includes music inspired by the collection. Through a QR code included in the collection announcement you are invited to visit the page with the MAESTRA Playlist – songs that have been inspired by the shades. Something to listen to while deciding on today’s colour or to accompany your nail polish as it dries. Now that is fitting with the musical inspiration!
After trying all six shades, Capri was my clear favourite. The raspberry pink is something special to me – it could surprise you too. The application was smooth throughout the collection, but the colour depth was low across the board for me – one was good with one layer, but I would try a second layer anyway for more depth. The colour lived up to its claims regarding durability, staying relatively chip free for roughly a week before I needed to try a new shade again.
Maestra is a classic shade, presented in the five ml Mini Color bottle – a format developed by MAVALA back in 1962. A small touch to try a new colour this week, and something else next week. A different shade under a rolled-up sleeve will keep your autumn wardrobe as fresh during the season as when you bought those new boots.
MAVALA Maestra Autumn/Winter 2026: recommended retail price of SEK 79 per 5 ml bottle. The press kit indicates Swedish launch in week 38 at KICKS and Åhléns.
