What are the hot colors for Spring 2011?

Fashion's Hottest (And Coolest) Colors for Spring 2011
by McKenzie O'Brien courtesy of

Are you looking for the hottest new trends in color this spring? Look no further, Pantone's color experts find out what's hot for the Spring 2011 season!

Pantone LCC is an internationally renowned color expert. For over 45 years they have worked side by side with the fashion, plastics, home décor, digital technology, architecture, and paint industries to communicate color in a profitable and appealing way to consumers. Pantone has developed the world’s most popular and widely used color standards system, called PANTONE FASHION + HOME Color System to create, match, and coordinate colors.

Representatives from Pantone attend New York Fashion Week and other fashion events to observe designers’ colors- which ones appear and reappear frequently in their collections, how the colors inspire their line, and their philosophy on how their colors are used. Based on the color trends found by Pantone representatives, their finding are used to create the annual PANTONE Fashion Color Report, that helps fashion gurus, reporters, and retailers stay up to date on the hottest and coolest colors of the year.

At New York Fall Fashion Week (September 9-16, 2010), Pantone’s color forecast was revealed for Spring 2011. There were 20 it-colors in total-10 for women’s fashion and 10 for men’s. The theme of the season is exotic lands, where there’s “an interesting marriage of unexpected warm and cool tones,” says Pantone Color Institute’s executive director.

South American, South Asian, and African Color Inspirations
The colors reflect vibrant cultures and colors found in Peru, Africa, Turkey, India, and other far off lands. For women we have:

• Honeysuckle- a warm reddish pink
• Coral Rose- a dark orange with pink undertones
• Beeswax- a honey colored yellow
• Regatta- a bright turquoise blue
• Lavender- a pale purple with pink undertones
• Blue Caracao- a technicolor aqua
• Peapod- a pale green with yellow undertones
• Silver Peony- a nude, beige color with silver undertones
• Russet- a deep brown with dark orange undertones

Men's Colors Include Rich Earth Tones
The men’s spring 2011 list shares five of the women’s colors- Honeysuckle, Beeswax, Regatta, Lavender, Blue Caracao, and Russet. The remaining five colors are:

• Barberry- a deep pink, purple color
• Firecracker- a medium orange with fiery, red tones
• Turf Green- dark green with blue undertones
• Linen- a nude color with pink and beige undertones
• Flint Gray- a light gray

Pantone also asked fashion designers, ranging from Betsey Johnson and Badgley Mischka to Charlotte Ronson and Monique Lhuillier what places these colors reminded the designers of. Responses ranged from Istanbul, Spain, the Mediterranean Sea, Brazil, Southern France, to Lima, Peru with emphasis on “gem tones,” “vibrant mosaics” and “a mix of Old World meets New World” found in all of these exotic and gorgeous locations across the globe.

Consumers take heed, this spring your wardrobe is going to need an update to keep up with Spring 2011’s jetsetter hues.

Stiletto,

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