Shoe News
Color brings fashion to life. At least that’s the message Pantone’s vice president of fashion and home delivered during the World Shoe Association Show at Mandalay Bay Convention Center last week. Female consumers, Tod Schulman said, found their fashion options boring last year. Even the supposed must-haves struck them as possibly, maybe haves.
“Color can change that,” he told an audience of mostly retail buyers and product development representatives. “It’s one way to make things seem different.”
The color schemes shoes and accessories will see next fall paint a lively picture. Pantone and female shoppers alike hope the new colors will send a surge of energy through the fashion world. Here are some of the colors and trends you can look forward to.
BLUE’S CLUES
Blue will merge with black to create a midnight shade that deepens the brightness this color has seen in recent seasons. Expect a lot of “material blocking” here that will juxtapose black and blue. Suedes and leathers will express this trend as will toe capped shoes.
SEEING RED
“Red evolves this season in two different directions,” Schulman said. One goes toward a childlike orange base. The other has blue undertones, which Pantone refers to as a winter plum. Do not expect a patriotic red to be in fashion for some time.
LA FEMME
The girliest colors on the color wheel, pink and purple, will lose their intensity after summer. Expect them to grow up since both carry strong sophisticated tones. Schulman credits this to the continued dominance of gray, which a subdued pink and purple complement well.
GREEN MACHINE
Whereas other colors get a narrow definition next fall, green spreads itself a little thinner. You will find it popping up in military olive, charmeuse and bright citrus garden. “Combining green with purple makes a strong winter statement,” Schulman said.
GOLD DIGGER
Yellow and gold will have a strong presence on your clutches and shoes but they’ll look as if they’ve been toasted. Each sports more of a burnish. Think celery and dull amber here.
ORANGE YA GLAD?
It will be brighter than the orange juice you wash down a Denny’s breakfast with. Citrus bursts willl show up in a range of warm monochromes on your handbags and fashion jewelry.
Contact fashion reporter Xazmin Garza at xgarza@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-0477.