Prior to the fall edition of New York Fashion Week (which recently concluded), Pantone, which bills itself as “the colour authority,” released the 10 colours that dominated the fashion runways and will do the same for the upcoming fall season.
The fall season’s colours are dominated by the blue family, which translate to the “desire for tranquillity, strength, and optimism,” said Leatrice Eiseman, executive director of the Pantone Color Institute.
The Pantone Fall 2016 Fashion Colour Palette
The blue hues are mixed with a combination of earth tones and touches of bright colours, making for a diverse showing for the season. Despite this diversity, calming and comforting blues dominate.
“Along with anchoring earth tones, exuberant pops of vibrant colours also appear throughout the collections. Transcending gender, these unexpectedly vivacious colours in our fall 2016 palette act as playful but structured departures from your more typical fall shades,” Eiseman said in a statement. “Blue skies represent constancy as they are always above us. Grays give a feeling of stability, red tones invite confidence and warmth, while the hot Pinkish Purples and Spicy Mustard Yellows suggest a touch of the exotic.”
The 10 calming colours that topped Pantone’s fall 2016 list are: Riverside Blue, Airy Blue, Sharkskin Gray, Aurora Red, Warm Taupe, Dusty Cedar, Lush Meadow Green, Spicy Mustard, Potter’s Clay and Bodacious.
“If you look at this season’s entire palette, the idea of comforting blues coming to the top of the list again shows that people are still searching for that reassurance,” Eiseman added.
According to reports, the colours are already being used on the international stage. For example, during the recent Paris fashion shows, Karl Lagerfeld incorporated Airy Blue into his Chanel collection. Aurora Red makes an appearance on Rihanna’s “Anti” album cover.
In jewellery design there are two ways to approach the anticipated fall colours. You can use the “boldness” of Aurora Red and the “rich and elegant” green of “Lush Meadow” to add pop to the blues and neutral colours that will be worn this fall. Or you can stick to the dominate colours on the palette with the cool and calming blue of “Riverside” and the “weightlessness” of Airy Blue as well of the earth tones of Sharkskin Gray, Warm Taupe, Dusty Cedar and Potter’s Clay.
I think the former is the way to go as the blues and earth tones will likely dominate clothing choices this year. A touch of bold colours is always a good thing—particularly when it offsets more mellow hues.
I have no idea how the hot Pinkish Purples of the colour Pantone named Bodacious will fit into the palette. Perhaps you can tell me.