Near the end of each year, after months of careful research and design-industry surveying, the PANTONE Color Institute announces a colour for the year ahead. For 2012, it was the brazen Tangerine Tango, a bold and cheeky hue that quickly made its mark in fashion, accessories, and household items. The previous year, it was Honeysuckle Pink, and the uber-popular Turquoise the year before that. When PANTONE calls out a colour as one to watch, it’s a safe bet that its viability with consumers is no longer a guessing game.
So what’s the sure-to-be reigning Queen of Color for 2013? Please clap your hands together for the chic and stunning PANTONE number 17-5641: Emerald!
According to the company’s website, it’s “Lively. Radiant. Lush. A colour of elegance and beauty that enhances our sense of well-being, balance and harmony.” And we have to admit, we agree. The depth and energy of this newly chosen hue bodes well for all areas of design, in both accent and total colour offerings. From cars and catwalks to eyeshadows and electronics, Emerald is going to dazzle and delight our senses in 2013. And if it becomes as popular as its predecessor, Tangerine Tango, be prepared for an all-out glorious green invasion.
According to Leatrice Eiseman, executive director at the PANTONE Color Institute: "The more relaxing and sophisticated Emerald is absolutely the opposite of 2012’s Color of the Year.” While PANTONE doesn’t try to develop a specific pattern in its colour choices from year to year, it does seek to vary the selection because it wants each year’s chosen hue to spark interest and feel fresh to consumers.
Just as any thorough trend-prediction research should be, the selection process is careful and deliberate. After polling design experts from a multitude of disciplines, including apparel, interiors, architectural, industrial, and automotives, a committee of colour experts presides over the final decision.
“It’s really a throwback to the 1980s,” says Eiseman, hinting at the hue’s ability to strike a retro-chic chord from an era of full-blown glitz and glamour. The colour has already been seen trending in jewelry, apparel and accessories in the spring 2013 ready-to-wear collections that were presented this fall. Retro-inspired as it may be, brands such as Burberry, Sportmax and Stella McCartney all took turns modernizing this ultra-elegant shade of green, keenly featuring it in head-to-toe looks for womenswear.
No matter whether the appeal of this shade is a trigger to a bygone era or a fashionably fresh new statement on our contemporary times, Emerald is sure to add a dazzling and dramatic impact on design in the year ahead!
[Main photo via HGTV]
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