Color Theory
It’s New York Fashion Week! Let’s take a look at what that means for color, and what we can expect to see at SMU.
Pantone dropped its Spring/Summer 2020 Fashion Color Trend Report on September 6, 2019. The report featured six warm hues, six cool hues, and four neutral tones. Pantone describes the collection as “Colorful favorites coupled with seasonal core shades come together to create a palette of modern color classics.”
Pantone’s color report is highly credible, and has been prominent in this year’s New York Fashion Week so far. Featured colors like Flame Scarlet, Lark and Chive were noticeable in collections by Christian Siriano, Rag and Bone and Monse.
These colors have been established on the runway, but have we noticed them around us? As a college student at a Southern Methodist University, I’ve noticed color trends do not necessarily stem from runway collections or trend reports.
This comes as no surprise. College students are far from the runway designers’ target market. While middle-aged, wealthy and fashion conscious individuals may look toward Caroline Herrera’s latest collection for color inspo, my peers look at what Hannah Ann was wearing on last week’s episode of The Bachelor.
Some noticeable color trends on a college campus include tie dye, muted color and animal print. Neutrals combined with simple print is commonplace, often seen in athleisure styles.
This season, one of the biggest trends I’ve noticed is tie dye. It seems to have replaced the popularity of last season’s neon. Usually it still incorporates bright and vibrant colors, but can be seen in neutrals as well. Tie dye has had a runway trickle down effect. Dior and Prada featured subtle, low vibrancy tie dye patterns in 2018/2019 collections.
We can expect to see Pantone’s color palette around us soon as more affordable brands begin incorporating its colors into Spring/Summer 2020 collections, but for now we should just enjoy the print.
Juliet Traylor 