By Melody Walker
If you could click on the Color Channel, the forecast for this fall would sound something like this: “Get ready for reds—both warm and cool—blowing in from Asia! They’ll be tempered by calming blues reflecting clear skies and ocean tides. The dark, rich browns we’ve been enjoying lately aren’t going away, but be on the lookout for oranges! Expect them to give way to shades of rust and pumpkin before the first frost.”
While there isn’t a Doppler radar for spotting the next big color on the fashion and interior design horizon, there are several groups of marketing, design and manufacturing professionals who take the art of color forecasting very seriously. The Color Marketing Group (CMG), The Color Association and Pantone Corp. predict color trends 12 to 36 months before consumers actually see them. All three prognosticators take society’s pulse by looking at trends, the economy, politics and lifestyles to devise color palettes, which, in turn, show up on everything from pillowcases to wallpaper.
“We take what’s happening now literally and translate that into a color,” says Melanie Wood, former CMG president and a color consultant in Knoxville, Tenn. Wood and her 1,300 CMG colleagues believe high-tech overload (24/7 computer, cell phone and iPod-attachment) is driving color trends away from intense, bright shades to more subtle, calming, spa-like hues, especially in home furnishings. “Warm neutrals are coming into their own, which is a clear indicator of a desire for authentic and real materials—seeking a natural essence will be a trend going into 2007,” according to Wood.
Barbara Slavkin, president of June Roesslein Interiors in Chesterfield, attended the CMG spring meeting where the 2008 Olympics in China were identified as a major influence on the reemergence of reds in the decorating palette: “Reds, browns, greens are the dominant colors this fall. We can’t get enough red! Cool and warm reds are really hot!” Natural woods, grasses, fabrics and wall coverings with texture are also part of this warming trend. “St. Louis is on target when it comes to colors,” Slavkin says. “We’ve always felt we were behind—a kind of fashion inferiority complex. But we’re not behind any more.”
The spring forecast calls for sunny yellows, melon, apricot, strawberry and a big shift from yellow-based to blue-based greens. Long-range? Are you ready? Purples of the eggplant and plum variety are expected to take a turn on the ever-changing color wheel. Stay tuned.
