Color Stories

Sushi Lovers, Eat Your Hearts Out.

Hiroko Masuike/The New York Times

With salmon orange and shots of fuschia, ivy green, and royal blue this sushi could not be fresher this season. Photograph from great review of restaurant Kyo Ya on NyTimes.com.

I had this photo sitting around for a while and created another color story with, this time with Pantone chips. Photo is from NPR.com, I unfortunately do not have the link any longer.

Paris Review: Spring 2010

Oh my...I just love Paris! The energy and the lights create the perfect background to all of the fashion that happens this time of year. This Paris fashion week was no exception to its predecessors, stunning from beginning to end. Here are some snippets of the trends I picked up on:

Color

Color on the runways seems to sway between minimal or absolutely exuberant. There were no in-betweens. For Color Anne Valérie Hash is a must see. She nailed it on the head, check it out:

What can I say? Wonderful! Amazing! Tres manifique! This was by far my favorite collection. It took Phoebe Philo's phenomenal collection for Celine from two seasons ago and brought it further into fashion's current direction. It was minimal, but soft, and large on skill and craftsmanship. It was above all things how a woman is going to want to look next season. Color and cut were both right. and were simply exquisite. Please note the color focused on what was aptly described as "make-up tones" on Style.com. Powder beige, blush, and slate completed a soft, focused palette.

Now, on the exuberant end (and in this case I don't mean just color), please note the following designers:

Manish Arora

Limi Feu

Zac Posen

I questioned not just the palettes these designer chose, but their overly exaggerated shapes. Seriously? I thought the 80's had come and gone. Twice now. Designers: y'all need to quit all your clowning around. No one wants to leave the house feeling like they're heading for the circus, and that's how these girls look. I was also disappointed in Limi Feu's decision to just create a strict palette of just black and whites. When they say "austerity measure" in Europe, I don't think anyone meant to take it quite that far. Otherwise from her a strong collection.

Print

Prints were almost non-existent on the French runways. The few exceptions included bits of graphic plaids here and there, and some snippets of snakeskin by Barbara Bui (the perfect evolution from last years leopard).

Overall I felt as if the cries for beauty and subtlety (Anne Valérie Hash, Barbara Bui) were right on the mark. The party dresses (from Zac Posen, Manish Arora) had a bit too much 80's attitude which has been done so many seasons now. They felt quite passé. Those looks need to walk right of that runway and walk far far away.

I love this picture, and I love the color story in this. :)

Color Charge

I just felt so inspired by the colors in this photo from Sunday's New York Times I had to share.

Fela's Women

Close-ups Of Fela's wives from the play "Fela!" now on Broadway. Photos courtesy of the New York Times, from the article "Finding Depth In Fela's Women".

I have been inspired by Fela Kuti's music for years now, but recently heard that there's a new play on Broadway chronicling his life. Special focus has been put on the Afrobeat musician's many wives and their costumes, which are indeed great. Fela, according to the New York Times article "Finding Depth In Fela's Women" married his 27 co-wives in unison as part of a protest against what he considered governmental degradation of traditional Nigerian culture. I love the rich colors and bold patterning in these photos, especially the hair and the make-up.

Color Trends: Spring 2010

Bringin' Home the Bacon

It looks like painters weren't the only people inspired by the Francis Bacon exhibit at the Metropolitan Museum of Art last season. It looks like the fashion world also took notice of his garish oranges backrounds and flat neutrals. All of the designers who used this palette used it to wonderful effect.

Color Trends from Spring 2009 were right out of a Francis Bacon Painting. Clockwise from top left: Study For Human Body by Francis Bacon, a look from Lanvin, Oscar De La Renta, Carolina Herrerra, all Spring 2010 thanks to Style.com for photos.

Nude As The News

Almost as important as what colors were chosen in each runway show was the lack of color designers presented. This may be an interesting affect of the recession, where in order to get the most wear of your clothes, they need to almost disapear on the skin as to escape to much notice. The best version was Phoebe Philo's for Celine, but of the many other catwalks where this was spotted, from Lanvin to Carlos Miele.

Clockwise from top left: Carlos Miele, Calvin Klein, Celine, Lanvin, all Spring 2010. Thanks to Style.com for photos.

Cold As Ice

Oh my...is it getting cold in here, or is that just me? Because Spring 2010 collection was feeling a little chilly. With lots of stark black and white, and colors iced to the barest hint of color, leaving you feeling cold. Most popular was the softest lavendar, shown by designers like Michael Kors and Versace. Francisco Costa at Calvin Klein and Riccardo Tisci at Givenchy also joined into the fray, introducing their own variations on the trend.

Clockwise from top left: Calvin Klein, Versace, Michael Kors, Givenchy , all Spring 2010. Thanks to Style.com for photos.

True Blues

One of the colors that seemed to show up again and again in every shade and tonality was blue. The first place I noticed it was at Ralph Lauren, whose dust-bowl inspired show had me literally singing the blues. Celine, who otherwise had an almost completely nude palette, took exception to this by inserting a azure dress into her mix. Oscar De La Renta also couldn't resist this ubiquitous hue. He chose a radical shade of teal to complete his collection. And Lanvin also couldn't resist the same hue. With colors trending warm as of late, maybe we're due for a cooling off period?

Designers were definitely feeling blue this season. Clockwise top left: Oscar De La Renta, Celine, Lanvin, Ralph Lauren, all Spring 2010. Thanks to Style.com for photos.

It's Electric

Although ice the ice age prevailed designers couldn't resist injecting random shots of heat into their collections. These shots provided quite a blast too, with shots of bright yellow and pinks which were simply blinding.

Clockwise top left: Badgley Mischka, Lanvin, Oscar De La Renta, Paul Smith, all Spring 2010. Thanks to Style.com for photos.