Are you Classic Blue?
Where you might see Pantone’s Color of the Year in 2020
HIGH POINT, N.C. — Color communicates, and Pantone says Classic Blue, its choice for Color of the Year, speaks volumes about security.
“Classic Blue is the personification of all we long for in tumultuous times,” said Leatrice Eiseman, executive director of Pantone Color Institute, the aggregator of all things color and lifestyle. “It is considered a thoughtful, trustworthy and protective hue.”
Each year Pantone goes through the process of trend analysis to determine a dominant color. Its color experts consider the entertainment industry, films in production, traveling art collections, hot artists and fashion designers, popular travel destinations, socioeconomic conditions, new technologies, social media platforms, upcoming sporting events and other factors, Ms Eiseman said.
Designers and manufacturers at North Carolina’s High Point Market, which showcases what is coming in the spring, embraced Classic Blue.
“Classic Blue is an incredibly versatile color, one that can be used in a multitude of different spaces and applications,” noted Stephen Shutts of Stephen
Shutts Design in Morgantown, W.Va., and Milan, Italy.
He expects to see the shade in fashion, cosmetics and technology — almost anywhere color can be applied.
“Pantone’s Classic Blue is a perfect middle-ground blue — not too dark, not too light,” said Mr. Shutts.
Because the hue is both buoyant and calming, it is a perfect color to use at home, designers said.
“Blue is very easy to incorporate into home interiors,” said Lisa Scalo McMenamin, owner of LSM Interior Design in the South Hills. “We see it as a neutral. It can go casual, regal, coastal, transitional — you name it. It transcends all tastes and styles and appeals to just about everyone.”
For a client in Palm Beach, Fla., LSM used the color liberally in a bedroom redesign featuring an upholstered Cox bed with Kravet fabric and blue and white Thibaut wallpaper.
At High Point, CR Laine, POLaRT Designs, Baker Furniture Co. and The Inside were just a few of the many furniture and home accessories manufacturers using the color in fabrics, lamps, upholstery and casegoods. The Inside partnered with Pantone to create a limited-edition line of pillows, sofas, screens, beds and benches featuring the color.
Lexington Home Brands showed several pieces, including the Carlyle Meridian bar, which would make a statement in any home. Finished with translucent blue doors and gold striping, the bar has tapered metal legs, a concave stretcher and custom hardware pulls inlaid with mother of pearl. Inside is a mirrored back with touch lighting, three adjustable glass shelves and a black laminated pull-out tray.
Lexington also had designer Barclay Butera’s blue raffia covered chest with full- extension, self-close drawers and clear glass protecting the fabric.
Jonathan Charles offered its Yeoward Midmoor chest of drawers, designed by William Yeoward in bluepainted acacia wood with brass hardware. Mr. Yeoward said he loved “the quirky detail of the paint and the amusing way that the borders of the drawers made for an all over design.”
Patricia Sheridan: psheridan@post-gazette.com.