Pantone announces Fall 2011 colour trends

Look, I’m a girl, and I’m an art journalist. I live permanently in the future; there are six seasons in my year instead of four, and I’ve been known to go shopping with a ColorMunki in my handbag. I even Pantone-match my nail polish*. So I’m always delighted when Pantone releases a colour trend report as it gives me a whole rainbow of hot shades, tones and tints to play with – in artwork, in the magazine, and of course on my fingertips.

Pantone has just released its Fashion Colour Report for Fall (autumn) 2011. The report features the top 10 colours for women’s fashion for fall 2011, along with designer sketches, quotes and headshots, and is available for free download at www.pantone.com/fall2011. The release of the PANTONE Fashion Colour Report coincides with New York Fashion Week, which began yesterday. This season’s report also includes the most directional hues for men’s fall 2011 fashion. What’s interesting about this particular set of colour trends is the influence that art has had on it. “Designers take a painterly approach to fall 2011 by artfully combining bright colours with staple neutrals, reminiscent of how an artist would construct a stunning work of art,” said Leatrice Eiseman, executive director of the Pantone Colour Institute. “Much like a painter’s masterpiece, there is a certain romance to this season’s palette.”

In at number one is the gleaming, subtly leaf-toned yellow Bamboo, followed by autumnal orange-red Emberglow, colour-of-the-year Honeysuckle, deep purple Phlox, misty neutral green Cedar, cool sea-toned Deep Teal, warm Coffee Liquer, tanned Nougat, delicately tinted grey-pink Orchid and slate-coloured Quarry. The report itself is jam-packed with gorgeous fashion illustration from a range of designers as well as colour advice and much more. The colours featured in the PANTONE Fashion Colour Report are culled from the PANTONE FASHION + HOME Colour System, the most widely used and recognized colour standards system in the world. Each season, Pantone surveys the designers of New York Fashion Week and beyond to collect feedback on prominent collection colours, colour inspiration and colour philosophy. This information is used to create the PANTONE Fashion Colour Report,which serves as a reference tool throughout the year for fashion enthusiasts, reporters and retailers.

*Obviously, obviously I’ve figured out the best polishes to approximate Bamboo already. It’s one coat Chanel Black Pearl to two coats Mimosa. But I’m still hoping that a Pantone nail polish colour trends capsule collection will be released one of these days