In 1950 Harper's Bazaar editor-in-chief Carmel Snow pushed on the pages of the magazine a rosy hue to promote a train - the Sunset Limited - that the Budd Company, a key Bazaar advertiser, had built for the Southern Pacific Railroad. Sunset Pink bags, belts, gloves, coats, underwear and fabrics were splashed all over the pages of the magazine that also boasted a matching cover with Larry Aldrich in a sleeveless pink linen dress. Snow ended up regretting the decision: this manufactured trend cost Snow her editorial mainstay and one of her staffers, Frances McFadden. Perennial punishment followed: the "Think Pink!" mantra in Funny Face was indeed spawned by this rosy accident and ended up haunting Snow for life.
This is just one of the many beautiful, funny and bizarre colour tales that pepper the history of fashion. But, if you're looking for further stories, you should definitely check out Pantone on Fashion - A Century of Color in Design (Chronicle Books) by colour expert and forecaster for Pantone Leatrice Eiseman and journalist and fashion historian E.P. Cutler.
Opening with Cyber Yellow (Pantone 14-0760) and closing with Jet Black (Pantone 19-0303), the authors analyse the story and power of several colours and hues including Grenadine (Pantone 17-1558), Dazzling Blue (Pantone 18-3949) and Poison Green (Pantone 16-6444), and they do so via brief chapters, each of them dedicated to a different shade.
Though slim, the volume includes many contemporary designers, but the best thing is its focus on historical references: through their research the authors tried to spot some pretty obscure designers, advertising campaigns, magazine covers, old clothing catalogues or iconic yet forgotten garments hidden away in rare books and archives.
Golden Cream will bring readers back to the '40s with an Edward Molyneux' illustration; Rust will allow them to rediscover a Bellas Hess catalogue from 1936-37; while Macaw Green will point them towards a very desirable wool cropped top and asymmetrical suede skirt designed in 1973 by Bonnie Cashin.
Schiaparelli's Shocking Pink is a timed inclusion given the recent relaunch of the house; Hunter Green reintroduces Mariano Fortuny, while Ruby Wine is the perfect excuse to rediscover a 1937 velvet gown by Elizabeth Hawes, designer and outspoken advocate of American dress reform.
Cinema fans will also find interesting references to famous costume designers such as Adrian and Edith Head and to iconic pieces like William Travilla's pink dress for Marilyn Monroe, Nolan Miller's heavenly pink power jackets for Dynasty; Irene Lentz's exuberant grenadine gown for Ann Miller in Easter Parade and Muriel King's navy pajamas for Katharine Hepburn in Stage Door.
The authors also highlight interesting connections with colours: they remind us of "Reagan Red", a reference to Lady Nancy Reagan and her penchant for James Galanos' gowns; they explore the somber and dark shades adopted after tragic events such as WWI and WWII, or after 9/11 and global terrorism, the conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan and the unstable economy negatively impacted on global moods.
Science gets more than just one mention thanks to the discoveries regarding synthetic hues, like the one by young chemist Sir William Henry Perkin who invented and named in 1856 the first aniline dye – mauve.
Traditions (think about the Zuni and Navajo using turquoise in their jewellery), cultural associations and symbolism are explored to explain certain correlations with fashion collections and it's also refreshing to see that the authors didn't forget to include fashion illustrators like German-Jewish artist Ursula Sternberg-Hertz and her symbolic use of Deep Teal to depict a fashionable post-War woman.
The book features an appendix with the Pantone year survey from 2000 to 2014 and each chapter comes with a colour chart for readers interested in discovering brighter or paler nuances of a specific shade. Pantone on Fashion is a must for all the colourists out there.
Pantone on Fashion - A Century of Color in Design by Leatrice Eiseman and E.P. Cutleris out now on Chronicle Books.
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