LONDON — Prepare for paradoxes.
Pantone believes London Fashion Week’s digital catwalks will be brimming with opposing moods and colors: heritage and contemporary; natural inspirations and urban style; practicality and playful, creative attitudes. The overarching theme will be British designers’ “reinvigorated desire to create.”
The 10 hues highlighted in the fall 2021 London color palette include an array of natural shades that are brighter than the usual winter ones. They include a grassy green, which Pantone is calling Green Bee; an optimistic yellow reminiscent of sunny days; and a soft blue that was designed with clear skies in mind.
Leatrice Eiseman, executive director of the Pantone Color Institute, said the “heartening hues” are both reflective of the natural environment and also “inspire our creative energies and awaken the desire for a replenished perspective on … color.” Colors will also reflect whimsy and charm — and pragmatism, she added.
Different shades of red are set to dominate the London collections, ranging from a warm Tomato Red, to a bolder hue dubbed Red Alert, and a tender pink shade.
Pantone also highlighted four classic shades that will be key throughout the entire fall 2021 season.
They are a sandy Perfectly Pale shade; an olive brown; a black-infused blue named After Midnight; and an Ultimate Gray hue which already made several appearances during the virtual New York Fashion Week.
Earlier this month, ahead of New York Fashion Week, Eiseman said that reinvention and re-emergence would be the driving forces behind the city’s color palette.
Eiseman added that the new rainbow of color is all about how different looks can work together. After nearly a year of working from home, many people are dipping into their closets to retrieve long-forgotten or seldom-worn items to rev up their Zoom attire or just lighten their moods, and they’ve been getting creative.
Creative professionals have also been raring to infuse more colors into their collections.
“Designers are more mindful of the fact that we need to have some infusion of colors even though everyone talks about calming, quiet and all of that. We have reached a point where we really want to offer some depth and excitement into the collection,” Eiseman told WWD earlier this month.