Like every year Pantone release the colour of the year. Last year it was ‘Living Coral’, which is personally one of my favourite colours, but this year it’s the opposite. PANTONE 19-4052 Classic Blue: ‘Instilling calm, confidence, and connection, this enduring blue hue highlights our desire for a dependable and stable foundation on which to build as we cross the threshold into a new era.’.
The ‘Classic’ of the colour title suggests how this particular shade of blue is timeless and seasonless, Classic Blue popped up in fields as diverse as the art market, the beauty industry, automotive manufacturing, tech, and even outer space. From an emotional, psychological standpoint, blue has always represented a certain amount of calm and dependability. It’s a colour that you can rely on, therefore making it timeless.
When thinking about the past year of the fashion industry, sumptuous neutrals with a coy bourgeois sensibility have reigned supreme thanks to Hedi Slimane at Celine, Riccardo Tisci at Burberry, and Ashley and Mary-Kate Olsen at The Row. When the blue however has shown up, it’s usually in the hands of a savvy designer with a strong point to make. At Balenciaga, Demna Gvasalia used it to reinforce a political message of unity, colouring both his show space and one of his most gigantic and avant garde dresses in the shade. Haider Ackermann used the colour in techy suiting, Eckhaus Latta used it for a first foray into sequins, and Gucci coloured a maxi-dress with a navel-baring neckline in the hue.
Research shows, that searches for ‘royal blue’ are currently up 87 percent month over month, and up 17 percent quarter over quarter. Consumers seem most keen for blue dresses, with searches in the category up 61 percent over last month, followed by coats, with searches up 37 percent over the same period. So heading into the new year we should seeing a sea of blue on the hughstreet and social media, which should hopefully make us feel at ease and calm. For me however, I haven't found any stand out blue pieces yet but that will probably change when the trend colour gets filtered down to more hughstreet and premium brands.
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