Pantone unveils top colours for spring 2013

For spring 2013, be prepared to be soothed with neutrals and energise by bright colours as according to Pantone, the global authority on colour, designers will be channelling the ultimate “balancing act”. The bi-annual colour report states that this

season, designers have been driven by the need to address consumers’ desire for self-expression, balance and the need to re-energise. This has resulted in a spring colour palette that mixes dynamic brights with neutral hues to create a harmonious balance.

“The expression ‘balancing act’ is something we all relate to as we strive to find harmony in the frantic pace of our everyday lives,” said Leatrice Eiseman, executive director of the Pantone Colour Institute. “The same can be said for fashion as we look for balance between light and bright, classic and new. This season’s colour palette emphasises this need for balance, while at the same time allowing for individuality, self-expression and excitement.”

The top ten colours for women’s fashion for spring 2013 features practical colours, particular nautical-inspired blues, citrus hues, bright flashes, and a prevalence for green.

Replacing ‘Tangerine Tango’ as the colour of the season is ‘Monaco Blue’, a classic shade that “offers both stability and depth to the entire palette”, and a colour that can be seen in the collections of Hervé Léger, Charlotte Ronson, Nicole Miller, Lela Rose, NAHM, Tia Cibani, Wes Gordon, and Tommy Hilfiger, who all took part in the report.

Green colours stand out as the most dominate, taking three shades within the top ten spring palette, offering a “stunning foreground or the perfect backdrop for all other hues”. Like the first signs of spring, ‘Tender Shoots’, is a vibrant yellow-green that is invigorating, active and cheerful, while ‘Grayed Jade’, a subtle, hushed green with a gray undertone, brings about a mood of quiet reflection and repose, that compliments the radiant ‘Sophisticated Emerald’, a colour that inspires insight and clarity, while enhancing our sense of well-being.

The other shades in the palette range from a statement ‘African Violet’ shade that brings a touch of intrigue to an exuberant ‘Poppy Red’, a seductive, sensual and celebratory shade, which are calmed by the Dusky Blue’, and ‘Linen’, a warm neutral that provides a nude-like basic that is a must have for spring. Then adding a summery vibe there are the citrus hues from ‘Nectarine’, a bright, effervescent citrus orange with coral undertones that provides a tangy burst of flavour, while the cheerful ‘Lemon Zest’ brings out a piquant taste with its refreshing, spritely greenish cast.

As well as discussing the prominent colours for spring the designers also shared what they felt would be the ‘must haves’ for spring. Tommy Hilfiger went for a red and blue, nautical print, a-line silk dress, while Lela Rose opted for a colour-blocked silk crepe camouflage skirt in sea green, ink blue, coral and cool lilac, and Charlotte Ronson chose her Ocean stripe tee and short set, featuring a tranquil, picturesque, oceanscape digital print.

Image: Nicole Miller for Pantone and the Pantone spring 2013 palette