The Daily Telegraph - Saturday - The Telegraph Magazine
The power of pink
Right now no colour makes a stronger impact – sartorially or politically
From girlie cliché to statement of intent, Kate Finnigan traces the political evolution of pink
There was a time when a strong woman wearing pink in public was a rarity. Pastel and baby pink – for all the soft, flattering light they cast about the face – were deemed too girlie for a serious woman to wear. But things started to change. Perhaps the Duchess of Cambridge, a keen pinker, had something to do with it. Or perhaps the taboo on pink waned because now little girls prefer to wear blue dresses in honour of their heroine, Elsa from
Frozen. Admittedly, not all grown-ups have succumbed to pastel tones. Theresa May’s last public foray in pink was back in the summer of 2015 – although, like Nicola Sturgeon, she is happy to do a girl-power fuchsia. Hillary Clinton, on the other hand, was fairly daring, even toying with pink gingham during her presidential campaign. Then again, that didn’t work out so well for her.
In recent weeks, more and more Pink Ladies have been showing their colours. There’s been Amal Clooney enjoying an appropriately baby blush moment in a Bottega Veneta coat, and Victoria Beckham swishing around London in a 1980s-luxe velvet pink pleated skirt.
Pink, you see, was declared a key colour for the spring season back in September 2016, right from the catwalk moment where Gig i Hadid wore it splendidly for Bottega Veneta. A draped pink dress was the final look – always significant – of the Céline show, worn with mismatched boots.
‘Pink has been used in an unexpected way for spring/summer 2017,’ says Ida Petersson, a buyer for Browns. ‘It’s a cooler incarnation, less saccharine. I feel in the current political climate, women are coming together in a way that hasn’t been seen since the 1960s, and it’s no coincidence that the fashion industry has chosen this moment to embrace the shade.’
Sure enough, after the US election, the Pussyhat Project urged women to wear a pink woollen hat with cat ears for the Women’s March – a mass visual statement that referenced Donald Trump’s now-infamous ‘grab ’em’ comment. The idea was taken up the world over. And then it came full circle: at the finale of the Miss on is how at last month’ s Milan Fashion Week, the models all donned pink ‘pussy’ hats made by the label.
Pink – unexpectedly potent.