Do we still care about Pantone’s fashion colour of the year?
I’m not sure. I don’t think it has the significance it once did; when fabric supplies were limited and trends were dictated to us. We’ve seen this change even in the 25 years since Pantone first initiated their ‘colour of the year’ back in 1999.
Now it’s up to us to select what suits us. Yes, we can buy from mainstream fashion brands who purchase the latest fabrics, but also from smaller, independent labels who use dead stock fabrics that could be a few years old, and we have also embraced vintage like never before! This has opened up many colour options for us than just what was decided for us by industry, many months prior.
A quick look at the colour of the year for 2024 tells us it’s a light orange, and unusually soft, meaning it’s an orange with a lot of white mixed into it. If your colouring is cool, this will not work well for you (of course you can still wear it but rather than harmonise, it may clash with or dominate you).
Often we can interpret the colour of the year in a warmer or cooler version, but not this one. Orange is the only colour that can never be cool. That’s because it’s comprised of both red and yellow pigments and they are both warm, unlike a green which can be warm if there’s more yellow in it or cool if the blue pigments dominate. And if your colouring is warm and bold, it is also not a perfect colour you as it’s so very soft. However it could look really effective as an accent teamed with a stronger colour.
So what does orange normally look great with? An analogous match would include a yellow and / or a red. Its complement is blue, so a mid or deep blue denim is a no brainer match for Peach Fuzz. Personally, I also love the triadic pairing of soft orange and olive green or a red based burgundy.
Neutrals that will harmonise beautifully with Peach Fuzz are a soft white or cream, plenty of browns including deep caramels, and green grey. For anyone who has a low value contrast, the whites will work well with Peach Fuzz, and for those who have a higher value contrast colouring, a deep green grey or a navy will look good.
Over to you! Do you like Peach Fuzz and how will you wear it?
Variations of Peach Fuzz, combined with neutrals
PS: High value contrast means the difference between the lightest and the deepest element (of skin, hair and eyes) is extreme. They stand out.
Low value contrast means there is not much difference between the lightest and deepest of your skin, hair and eyes. They blend. For an example, see my hair and skin in the photo below; it’s hard to say which one is deeper and which is lighter.
PPS: If you’d like to know if this Pantone colour of 2024 colour works for you, you can book a Colour Analysis here. I’ll talk to you about your value contrast in this session as well.
To learn more about colour palettes in general, see here.
Me doing my best Peach Fuzz imitation!