You’ve probably heard about 2016’s new Pantone color and are already mourning the death of last year’s Marsala. The Rose Quartz and Serenity are bright and calming options compared to last year’s wine-like color of the year. The shades sound like a harmonious mixture made from heaven – the light warm touch of rose and the serene blue of sky and water. To the untrained eye, well they just look light pink and light blue, really.
For the first time, two shades were chosen to make for “color of the year.” And you wonder, who and how do people choose these colors every year? Do they randomly pick a hue? Draw? Throw colored sticks and pick the last one to fall? Must be a really interesting job, right?
The people behind the company Pantone carefully choose every Pantone color of the year. The company is best known for its Pantone Matching System or PMS for short – a standardized color matching system used in a variety of industries that manufactures anything with color like printing, colored paint, fabric, and every product that uses color. These Pantone color guides are widely used in any aspect of design, be it on publication, interior design, or fashion.
Leatrice Eiseman, executive director of the Pantone Color Institute, heads the group of people that handpicks the Pantone color of the year. They travel around the globe and look at the trends, and observe what pops up in so many visual aspects. Fashion plays a big role, especially what they see on the streets in different places during their travels.
“Colors this season transport us to a happier, sunnier place where we feel free to express a wittier version of our real selves,” Eiseman mentions on the site www.pantone.com, regarding the Fashion Color Report for Spring 2016. For the chosen Rose Quartz and Serenity, they are inspired by the growing trend of people seeking inner peace, mindfulness and wellbeing in life. The calming combination of the colors represents “inherent balance between a warmer embracing rose tone and the cooler tranquil blue, reflecting connection and wellness as well as a soothing sense of order and peace.”
In fashion, Pantone explains that we are currently experiencing a gender blur, and there is a certain movement towards gender equality and fluidity. So the color(s) of the year “also challenges traditional perceptions of color association.”
So how do we really apply this to our wardrobe for 2016? Well, you need not put these two all the time together, though some celebrities already went as far as dyeing their hair with the split colors of Rose Quartz and Serenity. But you don’t need to jump into the bandwagon. Pantone suggests to pair them with other shades of pink, greens, purples, rich brown colors, yellow, or add in silver or other bright colors. Even beauty companies already followed the trend. Last December, Sephora introduced Pantone Universe Color of the Year Matte Lipstick in Serenity. Most of Spring Summer 2016 collections already had these colors popping up in last year’s runway shows. Check out collections for both men and women and spot ties, blazers, light weight fabric summer tops, dresses, including jewelries, bags, and shoes in Rose Quartz and Serenity.
There are no rules, really, since the colors of the year transcend gender or culture. It’s up to you to mix and match them, highlight or downplay either of the two.
