New color threads are predicted every year in our industry by several established and reputable color forecasting companies. Forecasts are made every year; sometimes they are very much the same, and sometimes they differ greatly.
At the beginning of 2008, blue got a lot of publicity. The New York Times ran an article in December, “A New Year, A New Color: But Are We Blue.” Pantone, the world-renouned authority on color, chose blue iris as their favorite color of 2008. The San Francisco Chronicle ran a story in January, “Back in Blue,” and said that “now it’s time to introduce blue and yellow as the colors of 2008…” Quite often, a collection of colors are chosen. House Beautiful selected eleven designers to choose “13 Colors that Men Love,” including aruba blue and midnight navy.
Tough economic times typically call for neutral palettes, but bright colors and trends are being shown at home and textile trade shows and exhibitions around the world. White and ivory have always been the best sellers in our store, Scheuer Linens, in San Francisco and for years blue was usually third. But in recent years, chocolate, green, and variations on wheat an chamois have sold better that blue.
Will blue become popular again? Only time and a sales history will tell. We often look to see what the women’s fashion industry is doing with regard to color and style, since home fashions have often followed those trends.
Looking ahead, Pantone also identified seven 2009 color palettes, “that reflect individuality and make people feel good about who they are,” according to Tod Shulman, vice president of the fashions, home, and interiors division at Pantone.
The Pantone View Colour Planner for summer 2009 details seven palettes, including: Female-ism (medium pastels with a tinge of retro glamour); Classic-ism (almost devoid of color except for one medium blue accent); Independent-ism (tart, bold, and gregarious colors); Today-ism (deep, dark shades of reddish blues, and brown); Absurd-ism (combines disproportionate color hues and values); Fetish-ism (“a carnal inspiration and desire for experimentation”); and Surreal-ism (“plays with scale, combination, and expectation to create unexpected, and even strange, creations”). www.pantone.com.
At first, people often feel that new colors look different or strange. Acceptance typically follows after people see a particular color palette promoted. Finally, the customer says “I want that color.”
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