Kansas City enters orange era after Taylor Swift announces 12th album
AI-generated summary reviewed by our newsroom.
- Taylor Swift's 12th album prompts Kansas City landmarks to turn orange.
- Small businesses and major brands embrace orange to align with album theme.
- Swift's influence unites sports, pop culture and community celebration in KC.
The Kansas City Chiefs have kicked off their preseason and fans are climbing back into the team’s red merch. But this week, there’s a new color washing over the city ... and one person responsible for it.
Buildings, logos, even food in Kansas City have gone orange to mark the news that “adopted daughter” Taylor Swift has a new album coming. Orange — along with mint green and glitter — is the theme color of “The Life of a Showgirl,” her 12th studio album.
And just like that, orange is the hue of the moment. That’s the power of Swift.
Go on. Google “Taylor Swift” and watch orange confetti flutter onto the screen and the name of a new Swift Spotify playlist pop up: “And baby, that’s show business for you.”
She might be dating Chiefs tight end Travis Kelce, but the Kansas City Royals are Swift fans, too. The fountains at Kauffman Stadium flowed orange this week.
Fans have spent two sleepless nights waiting for Wednesday, when Swift is expected to share details when she appears on “New Heights,” the podcast hosted by Kelce and his brother, Jason Kelce. The podcast drops at 6 p.m. Central.
Then, watch the Kansas City skyline for buildings to go orange after dark. KC officials say they plan to light up City Hall to mark the moment. The Kauffman Center for the Performing Arts will glow orange, as well.
You also might have noticed more than 30 orange, glittery digital billboards popping up around Kansas City. New York-based OUTFRONT Media has launched a billboard campaign in major cities across the country to honor Swift’s new album.
The Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art has changed its Instagram logo to a shuttlecock on an orange background and hailed the album news in a post.
“Big news from KC! We’re forever in our orange era. Welcome, @TaylorSwift,” the museum posted.
Union Station lit up its exterior in orange for two nights. Through Sunday, the landmark building has set up one of its specialty photo backdrops for Swift fans. Behind it, Grand Plaza will be lit up in orange lights.
“How much does KC love Tay? I am so proud of how our city has chosen to embrace her,” said Jordan Johnson, a long-time Chiefs and Swift fan in the Northland known as the popular @swiftieinkc on social media. “And Taylor has shown us love in return.
“Visiting Children’s Mercy Hospital, supporting the Chiefs, etc. It’s no surprise that small business across KC are showing support by changing logos, offering merch, and offering congratulations. Dolce Bakery prepared sweets for tonight’s ‘New Heights’ episode.
“I’ve seen billboards with heart hands and friendship bracelets… as both a Swiftie and a Kansas Citian, it means a lot to have both fandoms embrace each other the way they have!”
Dolce, by the way, had Swift cookies ready to go quickly. “Our hardworking team will be restocking all week long as fast as we can!” the Prairie Village bakery wrote Tuesday on Facebook.
This week only, the sweet shop is also serving up “The Travis,” a brown sugar cold brew topped with vanilla bean cold foam and “New Heights” sprinkles; the “Jason” honey cinnamon matcha; and “The Showgirl,” a “fresh squeezed, bejeweled lemonade in your new favorite era color.”
From United Airlines, Delta, Cinnabon and Starbucks to M&Ms, FedEX and Crumbl Cookies, companies across the country have added orange to their logos and branding.
The Empire State Building was one of the first buildings to light up in orange.
“We’ve been in our orange era,” boasted cosmetics company LipLab in an Instagram post highlighting some of its orange lip colors.
Swift wears orange lip color in her “New Heights” appearance instead of her trademark red lips. It will certainly be the next new fashion trend.
Orange is the new black?
The orange flows across the state line, too. In Johnson County, the city of Leawood has bathed a spectacular piece of public art called “Reaching” in orange lights.
The olive tree sculpture with 75 curved aluminum branches stands at the corner of Mission Road and Lee Boulevard. It changes colors for special occasions, including holidays, sporting events and local happenings.
The orange lights are expected to flip on around 20 minutes after sunset Wednesday, which should give Swift fans time to listen to the podcast, then visit the sculpture. The lights will be orange through the weekend.
“Swift has become a beloved figure in the Kansas City area in recent years, and her presence at Chiefs games has brought global attention to the region,” the city said in a statement.
“Swift’s album announcements are global cultural events, often sparking community conversation and creativity. The new album’s thematic connection to the color orange offers Leawood a unique opportunity to join the conversation while showcasing one of the city’s most recognizable public artworks.”
Nic Brown, an usher at Kauffman Stadium, was proud to see the Royals join in this moment by lighting the outfield fountains in orange, he wrote on Facebook Wednesday.
“Kansas City is showing some love in the most KC way possible!” he wrote. “As someone who gets to work here day in and day out and see these moments up close, it’s honestly incredible watching our sports communities come together to celebrate something bigger than just the game that we all love.
“The royals, the chiefs etc, and the whole kc community unite not only baseball or football, but for pop culture, music, and moments that bring us all together.
“Standing there and just seeing that I couldn’t help but to think: Kansas City doesn’t just supports its own - we support the things and people our city loves - and last night was proof.”
But why orange, of all colors? As colors go, orange has always been a little, well, controversial. It’s one of those colors people either love or hate.
It’s the color of Halloween and Thanksgiving and of teams Chiefs fans don’t like. See: Broncos.
Speaking of sports, a handful of pro teams that wear orange have been quick to jump on the Swift bandwagon this week.
Like most everything in Swiftie world, orange has meaning attached, Johnson said.
“As for the orange — why orange? As you know Taylor utilizes different colors to represent her eras and orange is a color she’s not yet used,” said the super-Swiftie. “However, it’s Taylor Swift so it could always mean more.
“The color orange goes deep into Swiftie lore — we use it to represent what we believe is Taylor’s lost album, ‘Karma.’
“There are many fan theories that TS12 could contain a vault or songs from what was the original ‘Karma’ album concept. She wore a lot of plaid during the original Karma era so the return of plaid outfits recently could suggest ‘The Life of a Showgirl’ is related to ‘Karma.’”
If anyone can make orange the new black, Swift can.
This story was originally published August 13, 2025 at 2:32 PM.
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