Spring & Summer Palette 2009

Are you someone who follows trends so you can:
A. copy them to the letter?
B. take the concept and give it your own spin? or
C. avoid them and start your own trends?

Regardless of your approach, it’s always useful to know what is trendy. When Pantone posts their fashion color charts for the upcoming seasons (released during New York Fashion Week), we check to make sure we’ve included the new hues in our palette. Now that it’s officially spring and people have started ordering for their spring and summer events, I figured I’d weigh in on which of these colors seem to be popular choices this season.

The Pantone Fashion Color Report for Spring 2009 includes 10 colors, ranging from fuchsia to lavender, two pinks and a yellow, a handful of greens and blues, and a neutral gray. Specifically (see graphic above, clockwise): Fuchsia Red, Palace Blue, Lavender, Dark Citron, Super Lemon, Lucite Green, Vibrant Green, Rose Dust, Slate Gray, Salmon Rose.)

We added steel gray tulle to our bow selection last year due to the popularity of this color (the “new black”?) and it’s still a trendy choice paired with almost any other color. We like it because it is softer than black and cooler than brown. (Right now we’re loving it with fuchsia.) Our Williamsburg blue is a close match to the blue-green of this new Pantone slate gray.

We've also noticed an interest in metallics, specifically silver, which look great paired with gray and bolder accent colors. We have several metallic tulle colors which add sparkle to our favors.

While bright pinks were a popular choice for bridal shower or bachelorette favors last year, we’re seeing lots more purples this year, from that funky fuchsia almost-pink to lavender and even deeper violet and eggplant shades.

We’re still seeing some pinks, but they are orangey or muted—the Salmon (close to our coral pink) and Rose Dust (similar to our dusty rose) mentioned in the Pantone report really seem to be the new pinks of choice. We’ve seen requests for true orange replaced by coral and vermilion this spring, and this seems to be increasing as we begin to prepare designs for summer events.

The blues are still hugely popular for spring, with Pantone’s Palace blue (similar to our turquoise) and Lucite green (our tiffany) being paired with grays and reds, as well as with bright vibrant greens (like our lime green).

Pantone’s “color of the year” for 2009 is called mimosa (similar to our goldenrod), a bright orangey yellow. This color is supposed to represent the optimism we need in these difficult economic times, and it looks like some folks are taking the cue by incorporating this color in their bridal and wedding events. We’ve seen an increase in the popularity of bright yellow, in particular (think daffodils), often paired with black or gray.

By far the most popular color this spring has been green. Commonly paired with brown or gray last year, this year we’ve seen it with lavender as well as aqua or periwinkle blues, too. The perfect pear/pair theme seems to be enjoying a revival, as well, and is a perfect choice if you want to use these dark citron or vibrant green shades (lime, neon citrus, mint, or sage green in our palette).

Almost all of our designs can be customized to include your event’s colors, so check out our chart of tulle bow colors and let us know if you have a specific palette in mind. Whether you’re following a trend or starting your own, we’d love to work with you!