While the fashion industry is mired in uncertainty, color experts are still offering predictions about the hues that will dominate spring style.
On Thursday, the Pantone Color Institute, a consultancy dedicated to trend forecasting, released its list of the 10 standout colors set to define the spring 2021 fashion season, providing insights into five “core classics” that industry insiders will see on the London runway as designers debut their spring creations, which began Friday. Last week, Pantone revealed the colors it expected to dominate New York Fashion Week.
Though the organization acknowledged the uncertainty that has undeniably plagued the industry in recent seasons, Pantone analysts believe that London Fashion Week will showcase colors that reflect hopefulness, combining a “spirit of lightheartedness with functionality and flexibility.”
According to the experts, colors for spring-summer 2021 emphasize consumers’ desire for pleasure and enjoyment—concepts that have been denied to them through the retail lockdowns of recent months.
And while most designers are planning visual presentations rather than in-person shows watched by hordes of fashion-loving attendees, analyst believe that designers will push forward with styles bathed in sunny, serotonin-inducing shades.
“A range of floral hues reflective of gardens in springtime awakens our spirit, reinvigorating our interest in colour that inspires feelings of much needed optimism,” Leatrice Eiseman, executive director of the Pantone Color Institute, said of the upcoming season’s bouquet of chosen colors.
Shades like “Pirouette” pink, an impossibly feminine cotton-candy hue, along with “Purple Rose,” a bright, light lavender, will be among the colors to grace London’s runways over the course of the coming week. Stronger shades like “Lava Falls,” a deep, fiery red, and “Indigo Bunting,” a quintessential primary blue that riffs on 2020’s Classic Blue Color of the Year, will round out the offerings with a bit more force.
Neutrals, of course, will remain a staple for seasonless apparel, ranging from off-white “Baby’s Breath” to the earthy warmth of “Macchiato” and aptly named “Ultimate Gray,” a slate tone sure to pair with other featured palette offerings.
According to Eiseman, designers have exhibited a newfound desire to work with palettes that are versatile enough for year-round wear during these months in quarantine. These easy-wearing staples “amalgamate our desire for comfort and relaxation with energy and determination,” she said.