A LITTLE OFF Colour
Phoebe Watt looks into 2018’s awkwardly on-point palette and finds an unexpected new black
Reading through the Pantone Color Institute’s round-up of this year’s top 12 trending colours is like poring over the horoscopes in a tabloid magazine. First up we have the “impulsive” Cherry Tomato, a tempestuous orangey-red that exudes heat and energy. Courageous and never to be ignored, this shade is, according to the global colour authority, “viscerally alive”.
Then there’s Palace Blue, which “sparkles with energy; stirring and impressive, a brighter blue for the days ahead”.
Conveying originality and ingenuity, the “magical” Ultra Violet is “a distinctive and complex purple shade that fascinates and intrigues”, while the “subtly alluring” Blooming Dahlia “beckons us with its understated appeal”.
Depending on your attitude to astrology, we may have already lost you. But even if you are sceptical about your star sign’s role in determining your fate, you should know that there is some decent science behind the way colours affect our moods. Most people will find that blue, for example, has a calming effect, yellow lifts our spirits, and red makes us feel excited and energised. Does this mean the lack of Blooming Dahlia in our wardrobes until now could be the reason we’ve struggled to meet that special someone? Well, let’s just say it’s one way to justify that blushtoned Chloé Nile bracelet bag.
If you’re not buying into the life-changing properties of the current must-have palette, there are still plenty of reasons to embrace it. Described by Pantone executive director Leatrice Eiseman as “wildly divergent [featuring] a kaleidoscopic bounty of uplifting shades and feelgood tones”, it’s an eclectic assortment of contrasting yet strangely complementary hues, some sophisticated and serene, others vivid and vibrant. Individually intriguing, together these colours take on even greater complexities, making the lineup an open invitation to designers to experiment.
So far, they’ve been up to the challenge. Take Balenciaga. The ultracool couture label has been playing with colour blocking for a while, but never in such a nuanced way as now. Last year it was a shocking pink dress paired with equally electric purple tights — a fullnoise combination, yes, but both garments being of the same colour family, extremely palatable. For SS18 though, creative director Demna Gvasalia upped the ante, pairing a grape knit with a subdued brown skirt, and elsewhere, milky lime green with dark green tartan. Set against a smoky runway, it was SS17’s cooler, angstier sibling and we liked it.
Locally, Kate Sylvester is queen of the colour charts, as evidenced not just in the shades she incorporates into her collections, but in how she plays these off each other, whether on individual garments or in styling her lookbooks and shows. SS18’s Marisol, inspired by Venezuelan artist, Marisol Escobar, provided some classic examples (think khaki and navy with buttery yellow and salmon pink), while AW18’s Electric Dreams proves powder blue and metallic raspberry to be the pairing you never knew you needed.
For Kate, who says she is “constantly challenged” by the way artists use colour, such offbeat or unexpected combinations are the result of many hours spent playing with countless boxes of swatches. For you, this means the hard yards have been done, and all that remains is to pick your palette.
Colour not really in your comfort zone? We get it. Just because you get the occasional craving for a Rainbow Paddle Pop doesn’t mean you want to look like one. But the message from trend forecasters and fashion houses is that, this year, you don’t have to. The trick is offsetting those bubblegum tones with edgier, dirtier hues that give off such an air of awkwardness that the pairing could only be deliberate. It’s counterintuitive, it makes no sense. But neither does chartreuse and lilac, and try telling Miuccia Prada this doesn’t work.