Chrissy64_uk
02-05-2009, 10:38 AM
The 'Color Police' Has Designs on Your Clothes
By Frances Burscough
It's a historical fact that at times of recession, the fashion world responds with extra frivolity. The flapper girl trend of the Roaring Twenties, for example, was a direct reaction against the misery of the First World War. Then the Great Depression and Wall Street Crash led seamlessly into the most glamorous fashion era of them all, the 1930s.
So it is no surprise that, in the midst of our current economic gloom, the new season is revealing a completely new spectrum of styles in an array of dazzling shades created specifically to cheer us all up.
At the recent shows, and from the couture boutiques to the high-street chains alike, the consensus was that neutrals had faded into obscurity and bright was the new black.
Citrus shades such as tangerine orange and lime green, jewel colors such as sapphire, emerald and amethyst, and iridescent metallics such as platinum and bronze, were everywhere, promising a much brighter outlook for the coming season.
So, although we may not be able to afford a whole new wardrobe, it is more than likely that the few key items we do buy for the summer will be in escapist shades from this new kaleidoscopic palette.
But have you ever wondered how certain colors instantly become in vogue?
And why do, say, pistachio green and cornflower blue suddenly appear in every shop window of every high street store almost overnight?
As an ex-fashion designer myself and having had a privileged sneaky-peak at how the industry works from the inside, I can tell you that there is nothing coincidental about it.
There is no inter-continental zeitgeist which flows over us all and compels us inexplicably to wear plum.
In fact, the colors we choose now were decided upon quite randomly by a panel of bright sparks two whole years ago.
Let me explain.
In order for designers to be able to make their color choices, the textile companies who supply them with fabrics must have their shade range already chosen well in advance of each coming season.
For these fabric companies to be prepared, they rely on the yarn manufacturers to provide them with their shade range well in advance.
For these yarn manufacturers to be prepared, they rely on the dye manufacturers to provide them with their own shade ranges well in advance.
So far, the process has taken 18 months, but six months before this even happens the colors made available to the dye manufacturers have also had to be pre-selected.
And the whole incredible multinational trillion-dollar process begins in one room in London by a panel of leading "color forecasters" at a little known about, rather secretive organization called the International Color Authority.
You could call it the ultimate rainbow alliance.
The term "forecasters" which they use, however, isn't quite accurate.
A weather forecaster only predicts what the weather will be like, he doesn't decide it.
But here they forecast the colors which will be popular in a particular season by actually choosing and agreeing on them directly.
There is no guess work, as the entire process becomes a self- predicting fait accompli.
In order to avoid industrial espionage in such a valuable global industry, the actual panellists, their own personal methods of shade selection and the sources they use to make those choices are kept Top Secret.
However, according to a friend of a friend of a friend of the hairdresser of one of the secretaries at the organization, it is almost as random as sticking a pin into a color chart and proclaiming it to be de rigeur.
The actual story I heard was that one panel member, for example, had a boiled egg for breakfast one morning on the day of the meeting, the yolk had ended up on his tie prompting a personal eureka moment.
So now, two years later, the whole world and his wife is wearing bright yellow.
Let me guess. Next season we'll all be in ketchup red.
By Frances Burscough
It's a historical fact that at times of recession, the fashion world responds with extra frivolity. The flapper girl trend of the Roaring Twenties, for example, was a direct reaction against the misery of the First World War. Then the Great Depression and Wall Street Crash led seamlessly into the most glamorous fashion era of them all, the 1930s.
So it is no surprise that, in the midst of our current economic gloom, the new season is revealing a completely new spectrum of styles in an array of dazzling shades created specifically to cheer us all up.
At the recent shows, and from the couture boutiques to the high-street chains alike, the consensus was that neutrals had faded into obscurity and bright was the new black.
Citrus shades such as tangerine orange and lime green, jewel colors such as sapphire, emerald and amethyst, and iridescent metallics such as platinum and bronze, were everywhere, promising a much brighter outlook for the coming season.
So, although we may not be able to afford a whole new wardrobe, it is more than likely that the few key items we do buy for the summer will be in escapist shades from this new kaleidoscopic palette.
But have you ever wondered how certain colors instantly become in vogue?
And why do, say, pistachio green and cornflower blue suddenly appear in every shop window of every high street store almost overnight?
As an ex-fashion designer myself and having had a privileged sneaky-peak at how the industry works from the inside, I can tell you that there is nothing coincidental about it.
There is no inter-continental zeitgeist which flows over us all and compels us inexplicably to wear plum.
In fact, the colors we choose now were decided upon quite randomly by a panel of bright sparks two whole years ago.
Let me explain.
In order for designers to be able to make their color choices, the textile companies who supply them with fabrics must have their shade range already chosen well in advance of each coming season.
For these fabric companies to be prepared, they rely on the yarn manufacturers to provide them with their shade range well in advance.
For these yarn manufacturers to be prepared, they rely on the dye manufacturers to provide them with their own shade ranges well in advance.
So far, the process has taken 18 months, but six months before this even happens the colors made available to the dye manufacturers have also had to be pre-selected.
And the whole incredible multinational trillion-dollar process begins in one room in London by a panel of leading "color forecasters" at a little known about, rather secretive organization called the International Color Authority.
You could call it the ultimate rainbow alliance.
The term "forecasters" which they use, however, isn't quite accurate.
A weather forecaster only predicts what the weather will be like, he doesn't decide it.
But here they forecast the colors which will be popular in a particular season by actually choosing and agreeing on them directly.
There is no guess work, as the entire process becomes a self- predicting fait accompli.
In order to avoid industrial espionage in such a valuable global industry, the actual panellists, their own personal methods of shade selection and the sources they use to make those choices are kept Top Secret.
However, according to a friend of a friend of a friend of the hairdresser of one of the secretaries at the organization, it is almost as random as sticking a pin into a color chart and proclaiming it to be de rigeur.
The actual story I heard was that one panel member, for example, had a boiled egg for breakfast one morning on the day of the meeting, the yolk had ended up on his tie prompting a personal eureka moment.
So now, two years later, the whole world and his wife is wearing bright yellow.
Let me guess. Next season we'll all be in ketchup red.