Welcoming our new purple overlords
By Sophie Isbister, Life & Style Editor
In case you didn’t know, the colour company Pantone releases their colour of the year each year, and this year it’s Radiant Orchid. Radiant Orchid is a beautiful purple blended with fuchsia and pink, a colour that is sure to delight the senses of folks everywhere this year, whether it’s in the fashion industry, the floral industry, or the event planning industry.
So what makes Pantone the arbiter of colours? Who gave them the right to tell us what colour to call our own? Isn’t taste subjective?
Well, first, Pantone’s secret headquarters is located under a rainbow waterfall—no, just kidding. Pantone sells high-end pigment and patented colours to industries. They meet yearly with industry insiders to choose the colour of the year, which is then marketed to designers. The colour of the year is bound to be seen all over runways this year, especially since 2014’s colour is particularly fresh and spring-like.
Pantone tries to capture the zeitgeist of society with its colour of the year. They stated in 2014’s press release that “Radiant Orchid emanates great joy, love, and health”—it seems fitting, as I’ve anecdotally noticed a lot of people rising from the ashes of a terrible 2013 and hoping to thrive in the year to come. Embrace the Orchid, people!
So how do I wear this captivating hue? Well, for full colour conformity I recommend painting your entire house Radiant Orchid and then using a more muted tone of this energizing colour to treat your windows and trims. Failing that, Radiant Orchid is a very adaptable colour to your daily life. I know I already have some eye shadow in this colour, and as soon as I find some nail polish that will probably be my preferred way to wear it (hey, Pantone, time to team up with OPI!).
For men, try a softer version of this colour on a dress shirt. It would look amazing with a grey or black suit. Despite being seen as a feminine colour, purple looks great on men in small (and even large!) doses. Try a purple pocket square or a tie—you won’t regret it.
Luckily, this colour looks great with all complexions and colourings; it’s incredibly versatile and wearable. A purple belt would look great with a dress featuring a large, muted floral print. Purple is a bold colour best worn with neutrals (like a dress shirt tucked into a high-waist black pencil skirt), but it would also work colour-blocked with a vibrant yellow. Avoid emerald green so you don’t look like Barney the dinosaur, but maybe consider an olive green or sage green in small doses to go with your Radiant Orchid.
Whether you choose to rock this colour in a big way (like a bold trench coat), a small way (headband or earrings), or not at all (you iconoclast!), you definitely won’t have any trouble finding it in stores this spring.
