The Department: a podcast about trends. - Pantone Trends: Clashing Colors, Considering the Color of the Year, Pantone & Pantyhose, Calvin Klein’s Coffee + Colorstrology

Pantone Trends: Clashing Colors, Considering the Color of the Year, Pantone & Pantyhose, Calvin Klein’s Coffee + Colorstrology

01/05/21 • 96 min

So the annual grand decree of Pantone’s Color of the Year for 2021 was released recently - For the second time since they started doing the Color of the Year Pantone released 2 colors. They have a bright yellow called Illuminating and a very basic stone grey called Ultimate Grey.

Essentially it symbolizes strength and hope - The Pantone website>> describes their selection as:

“Ultimate Gray and Illuminating are two independent colors that highlight how different elements come together to support one another which best expresses the mood for Pantone Color of the Year 2021. Practical and rock-solid but at the same time warming and optimistic, the union of PANTONE 17-5104 Ultimate Gray + PANTONE 13-0647 Illuminating is one of strength and positivity. It is a story of color that encapsulates deeper feelings of thoughtfulness with the promise of something sunny and friendly.”

We find that these ‘Color of the Year’s’ have been following the trend - not leading it lately - Yellow has been trending for at least 3 years. In 2018 industry people proclaimed this yellow Gen Z Yellow which was pegged to usurp Millennial Pink which rocked the color world last decade. But this wasn’t always the case.

First and foremost the color of the year is meant to be aspirational as well as draw some pr momentum. Pantone has been doing the color of the year since 1999 - picking the color of the year for the next year - and set the precedent for a bunch of other paint and trend companies that also release their own color of the year. Color of the year started as a marketing tool to liven up the color standards business - put a little hype and serious pr spectacle into the game. Starting in 2000 the first official color chosen was Cerulean, a light blue said to capture the angst about Y2K- This color represents the millennium because of the calming zen state of mind it induces.

Since the founding Pantone has figured out how to capitalize on this more and more - they now enter into licensing agreements with various companies - from nail polish to hotel suites - so that the color is everywhere and these brands are on trend as well. So in essence it is a self fulfilling prophecy. Ultimately the color of the year and the colors they forecast for the season are really about selling merchandise and informing a similar palette brand’s use in unison to come together on a color trend. The more customers see a color the more they lean into it - essentially - so it is a catalyst for a color trend and makes them appear as a reliable resource.

Interestingly however - The colors are designed to create obsolescence - after a few months the color loses interest and is considered pase because it was last year’s color. Previous year’s Pantone-branded coffee mugs for example are often seen marked down. The annual update on iPhone colors for instance, is meant for consumers to covet a new phone every year.

Here is a great article: Why Does Pantone Choose a Color of the Year>>

Pantone Officially defines their choice and methodology as: “A symbolic color selection; a color snapshot of what we see taking place in our global culture that serves as an expression of a mood and an attitude. Trends across all categories and industries reflect the culture we live in. As marketers, our primary goal to be successful is to connect with people and to do that, it is important to be in touch with these trends.”

The Busines Insider came out with a compelling article this year after the 2021 colors were announced called ‘Pantone's Colors of the Year are intended to reflect 'resilience and hope' for 2021. But the annual decision also has a trickle-down effect on everything from high fashion to iPhones.’ by Avery Hartmans>>

Avery examines how Pantone's Color of the Year is meant to make a statement that they obviously serve another purpose: setting the tone for the consumer products industry and kick-starting a trickle-down effect that can last for years.
“Hartmans gives this reference - that Cerulean was the color of the year in 2000- then There's an iconic scene in the 2006 film "The Devil Wears Prada" that helps explain the color phenomenon. In the film, Anne Hathaway's character, Andy, quietly scoffs at two similar-looking turquoise belts someone had just described as being "so different." Andy's reaction leads Meryl Streep's character, Miranda Priestly, to turn on her and unleash a seemingly calm yet undeniably eviscerating explanation of the power of the fashion industry and its trickle-down effect on consumer pr...

Essentially it symbolizes strength and hope - The Pantone website>> describes their selection as:

Here is a great article: Why Does Pantone Choose a Color of the Year>>

Previous Episode

undefined - Slumber Party Series (Ch.2): 80’s & 90’s Hair Trends, ‘The Rachel’, ‘The Demi’ ‘The Drew’, Crimping Craze & Torture tools, Herbal Essences & Salon Selectives + Much More!

Slumber Party Series (Ch.2): 80’s & 90’s Hair Trends, ‘The Rachel’, ‘The Demi’ ‘The Drew’, Crimping Craze & Torture tools, Herbal Essences & Salon Selectives + Much More!

To coincide with our Slumber Party theme we thought that no slumber party was complete without the hair - which was such an important part of the late 80’s and 90’s. Mainly inspired by celebrities, models and musicians - hair was dramatic and a zeitgeist of the times.

History of Hair 101

(well just for the 80s and 90s...)

Humongous Hair : 80’s Hair

Kim takes a look at some of the epic hair trends of the 80’s - where the bigger the better. As the 80’s were a decade of excess the hair followed and the 80’s was a mutation of the big hair ideals of the 70’s. The 80’s got messier and curlier as perms reigned supreme. Crimping followed suit as a home texture. We also got the mullet, asymmetric bob and Princess Di’s Sloan Ranger feather, french braid, big bow and scrunchie styles with Whale Spout and Palm Tree. The peak of the big hair trend hit in 1987 and deflated after then.

Minimal Insanity: 90’s Hair

Iconic celebrity hairstyles defined the generation and fashionable forward hair was extremely important -I would almost argue that young celebrities would get a cool edgy cut to stand out and get featured more in tabloids and news coverage

“The Demi”
As we moved from 80’s excess into the 90’s - big hair was considered “tacky” and minimalism trended. 1990 - Ghost hit the theaters and the clean, cropped adrogenous style was a turning point. Inspired by Linda Evangelista’s dramatic cut in 1988 that subsequently got her banned from the runway but then became ultra fashionable in Paris and then the world. Short hair saw a major trend in all fashions from the most forward celebrities (see the Drew Effect) and daring followers.

“The Rachel”
The Rachel could arguably be one of the most influential haircuts of all time. The haircut by stylist stylist Chris McMillan debuted in 1995 on the Friends episode “The One With the Evil Orthodontist." There is a great article that explores the Rachel hair trend from Mental Floss written by Jay Seravino called The One where Jennifer Aniston's 'Rachel' Haircut on Friends Became a Phenomenon.With elaborate highlights and its roots in the shag “the Rachel '' took America by storm after being introduced and was big business for America’s hair salons. "That show has made us a bunch of money," Lisa Pressley, an Alabama hairstylist, said back in 1996. Pressley was giving around four "Rachels'' per week to women ages 13 to 30, and she was touching up even more than that. Another hairdresser estimated that, during that time, 40 percent of her business from female clients came from the "Rachel." The funny thing is that Rachel is a really hard style to maintain - it takes a stylist to perfectly blow it out and style it everyday

The Definitive Guide of Hair Torture Tools in the 80’s & 90’s

Wielding the power of tv and prime teen time hair care and tool commercials aired for teens and tweens during shows like Saved By the Bell and Beverly Hills 90210. Additionally this was also the golden era of the teen magazine, Seventeen, YM, Teen, Sassy, etc to showcase such showstopping tools.

Conair Crimping & Curling Empire

From wikipedia>>:

Founded in 1959 in a garage in Queens, New York, Conair started out by selling hair rollers and then hair dryers.
It continued to expand, and became a public company in 1972, but then went private again after a leveraged buyout in 1985. It was owned by the co-founder and chairman Leandro Rizzuto until his death in 2017. In 2002 Rizzuto pleaded guilty to tax evasion associated with his tenure as Chief Executive Officer of Conair, and was sentenced to a prison term of 20 to 37 months.
Conair is one of the largest producers of hair care appliances, ranging from hair dryers and styling irons to its innovative hair curlers, Curl Secret and Miracurl Stylers. The company also manufactures a wide range of home kitchen appliances under its brands Cuisinart and Waring.

As mentioned ...Cuisinart Resort

Geometricks

This styling kit came with not one but five attachments: a zigzag iron, a spiral iron, a triangle iron (??), a crimping iron, and a straightening iron. Amanda and Kim and likely everyone in this age range had this. Clearly a lot of marketing dollars spent behind it. Geometricks also came with a free...

Next Episode

Color Trends (pt 2): The Passion of Millennial Pink, Gen Z Color Trends, Kindercore + Wonderful Wiggly Design

Amanda and Kim take a deeper look into some more color trends that define us this episode!

As previously mentioned in 2016 Pantone, for the first time ever, chose TWO Colors of the Year: Rose Quartz (aka millennial pink) and Serenity (a lavender blue). Last episode we mentioned that Pantone wasn’t the forerunner anymore on trend - as Millennial Pink had been pervasive for a few years now.

Pantone credits the blurring of gender for the choice - not mentioning the obvious obsession with the color: According to Pantone.”In many parts of the world we are experiencing a gender blur as it relates to fashion, which has in turn impacted color trends throughout all other areas of design."

Amanda points out that these colors weren’t necessarily groundbreaking. These colors were also used together frequently in the early age of the internet, found in both the Prodigy guidebook and the America Online welcome page.

Rose Quartz (aka millennial pink) became the color of a generation, with Serenity as its sort of second runner up.

Millennial Pink, also known as “Tumblr Pink” and “Scandi Pink” is not the same as Barbie pink, which was the pink shade of the aughts. This was a softer, less aggressive shade....some considered it a modern take on the color.

New York magazine did an exhaustive, almost too dry article>> on the history of millennial pink citing here in a lot of her research. The New York Mag fashion editor Amy Larocca said, “often when Pantone declares Marsala Red or Radiant Orchid to be the next color to watch, we shrug knowingly, fully expecting to see that shade on shelves but not expecting it to invade our consciousness.”

But millennial pink was different...it really did invade every aspect of clothing, graphic design, interior design, product design....it became a signature of the “blanding” aesthetic (refer to our episode on Blanding for MORE!)

In November of 2014, the Color Marketing Group, a worldwide nonprofit color-forecasting group of which Pantone is a member, picked Shim, a deep pink-beige, as the 2016 emerging color (the group works two years in advance). It’s an early version of Millennial Pink. The Asia-Pacific members of the group are the first to notice the color and say that it represents a change in gender roles; the name Shim is a play on she and him. Mark Woodman, the former president of CMG, calls the color a “moment of quietude” and explains that “there’s so much stress that people think, What can I do in color and texture that I can take with me that gives me a moment to calm down?

That same year, #palepink is the top used pink-related hashtag on Tumblr...a place that virtually birthed the pastel aesthetic! And I would say that the kids of Tumblr really lead the this paste revolution with all of the pastel aesthetic blogs, pastel goth.

Every brand--whether it’s clothing, kitchen goods, furniture, you name it...has gotten into the millennial pink game at some point. ...but strangely none of the big car companies have? WHAT A MISS. Probably why Millennials aren’t buying cars! (please refer to our episode on Millennials Killing things ;).

Traditionally considered a color of our youth -or femme girl icons like Paris Hilton, Leagally Blonde or House Bunny - it became popular beyond age, gender or taste. Fuelled by nostalgia and trend the color took over in a massive way.

But millennial pink had a different, androgynous vibe. It was considered the “genderless mascot” of a generation. It’s also flattering and easy on the eyes, which doesn’t hurt!

A few years ago Amanda read an amazing interview with one of her favorite bands, a Japanese girl band called Chai, who uses pink very heavily in its imagery and outfits! This quote from member Yuki really stuck with her: “In Japan, most girls like pink when they’re little. There is this cultural understanding that when you’re a young girl, you can wear pink, but as you grow older, pink is not the color for you. What we are trying to say is that pink is for everybody at every age. We wanted people to know it’s a cool color and it shows woman power. Our pink outfits show we’re not just cute: This is what cool women wear.”

People would ask...why pink? A traditionally polarizing color!

In 1918, the trade publication Earnshaw’s Infants’ Department published an article saying, “The generally accepted rule is pink for the boys, and blue for the girls.”
While this shade of pink is not new, it’s invasion of our consciousness and our surroundings began in earnest in 2013...so Amanda wanted to call out some iconic millennial pink moments: