New York Fashion Week is in full swing, and often what happens during a slew of runway shows like this is that you start to see some similarities between the styles of completely different designers. Whether that's actually the case or the shows just start to blur together because you're in a fashion overload, I'm not sure. But usually, there is one color or a type of hue that reigns supreme during Fashion Week.
And then once you see it, you can't unsee it. That color will end up everywhere, in catalogs, in department stores, in commercials. Everywhere.
Judging by the designs at Fashion Week this season, which actually showcase Spring/Summer 2015 styles, we may be able to predict what colors you'll be wearing come March. Prominent colors at Fashion Week include strawberry ice, aquamarine and lucite green, according to Pantone's "Fashion Color Report Spring 2015." The design consulting firm says colors will follow an "en plein air" theme that is natural, warm and subtle-looking.
"There is a growing movement to step out and create 'quiet zones' to disconnect from technology and unwind, giving ourselves time to stop and be still," Executive Director of the Pantone Color Institute Leatrice Eiseman stated in the report. "Soft, cool hues blend with subtle warm tones to create a soothing escape from the everyday hustle and bustle."
Designers such as BCBGMAXAZRIA, Betsey Johnson and Monique Lhuillier have incorporated some of these colors into their Spring 2015 collections.
Pantone is famous for declaring a color of the year. This year, "Radiant Orchid" is the hue of choice until next year's color is announced in December. Telling us what color to wear every season all sounds very much like it's from a post-apocalyptic dystopia, doesn't it? Then again, we're all slaves to fashion. If we're going to follow the trends anyway, we might as well know how Pantone goes about determining what the next hottest color is going to be.
Pantone researches hues that it thinks will pique consumers' visual interest in the coming year. That makes sense given that the name of the game is to find commercial success. This year's color choice actually had a lot to do with the economy.
"We've been concerned about the economy since 2008, about how to attract the consumer's eye and get them to buy something new if they are counting their pennies," Eiseman told The Atlantic. "I know that sounds very manipulative, but this is what gets an economy to work, to get people to buy."
The color selection process is far from arbitrary, although it might seem like it to those who think they're too cool to care about fashion. Pantone spends years doing research to forecast the next big color. The process of choosing "Radiant Orchid" started at least five years ago, Eiseman told The Atlantic. Pantone's researchers travel the globe to spot color trends and also take inspiration from pop culture and major events like the World Cup.
Remember that scene in "The Devil Wears Prada" when Meryl Streep's Miranda Priestley schools Anne Hathaway's naive Andie Sachs in how she ended up buying her blue sweater, namely that fashion's movers and shakers selected it for her? That's actually not far from the truth at all.
