The future of colour

Have you ever wondered how the colour of yarn in your local yarn store gradually shifts from season to season, the bright blue of several years ago now nowhere in sight? Well it's all to do with colour forecasting.
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The photo above, for example, shows a menswear forecast which was put out several years ago for the season we are in now, Autumn/Winter 2015‐2016. In this, we see a slightly improbable mix of bright colours contrasting with greys and browns.

And here are the colours that we finally saw in the shops – significantly toned down, but still recognisable as deriving from the earlier predictions.

So the colour combinations that we see now start life at least two or three years earlier. Colour forecasting companies, yarn manufacturers and fashion designers meet at events such as Pitti Filati in Florence several years before the start of the season and discuss how the mood of fashion is evolving. Are things becoming more upbeat and flashy, or is there a movement towards a calmer pace of life and softer shades?
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The feedback and reactions from these trade shows gradually leads to a consensus on colour choices. Sometimes these can be wildly different from previous years, but usually they are just subtle shifts in tone so you can add "this year's colour" to pep up your favourite item from the previous year.

Let's look at grey for example. The photo here shows Pantone #16‐1107 "Aluminum" (or as I would say it, Aluminium ‐ oh what a difference an extra "i" can make!)

This was a key colour for the Fall/Winter 2014/2015 season and worked well with one of the major themes for that year, "Masculine Pieces".

It was a steel grey shade but with a warm mid‐tone giving it a feeling of restraint and calm.

And here is the grey shade one year later on: Pantone #18‐4214 "Stormy Weather", an altogether harder, bluer tint. Pantone describes this colour as:

"Reminiscent of the sky on a grey, overcast day, Stormy Weather is dependable, cool and above all, constant. Implying quality and luxury, it is a powerful blue‐grey that is strong, protective and enduring."

Textile manufacturers, yarn companies and fashion designers draw on these colour influences for their inspiration as they plan ahead. Then over the next few months, six or eight "themes" start to consolidate for each season.

Shortly afterwards, we start to see magazine photos and catwalk shows for the coming season, and the local yarn stores have similar colours so you can make matching items. Magic!

So here is some yarn which has 'magically' appeared in just this colourway. ​This is Knit Picks Stroll Tonal in #26598 Train Station and it perfectly captures the idea of "Stormy Weather". ​The colours range from a rich coal black to mid-tones of dark steel with highlights of smokey grey. 

And here are some socks worked in this colourway. These are the Druidstone Socks and they feature a wide rib design from our Reversible Knitting Stitches book. This is a very elastic stitch which is very comfy to wear. The socks have extra shaping around the ankle and arch to give a well-fitting design, and feature a turn-back cuff for extra warmth around the ankle.

In the photo above, the top pair of socks has been worked with the Train Station colour, then the middle pair are in the Stroll Solid range, #23696 Ash, and the lower ones are in the Stroll Tonal #26140 Pacific. The overall colour of this last pair is a deep cerulean blue but with shades of denim and stormy blue skies – the colour of the sea after the stormy weather has passed!

Next time, I will be continuing this exploration of colour by looking at the Summer 2016 forecast from Pantone, which includes a "cool, calm & constant" blue. ​

​If you would like to see the first Knitting Notes post in this series, please click here, then follow the links at the bottom to get back to this point.

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