The fact that Pantone chose not one but two colours for their “colour of 2016” shows just how important colour combos are right now. If once there was an it colour that the rest of your outfit accompanied like backing dancers while the solo star took centre stage, it’s now about duos. Pick the right combination and you’ll get that satisfying pop. Here are five that prove, when it comes to colour, it takes two to get the right look this season.
Yellow and red
Look to combining Arsenal’s home and away colours or – if you know your catwalk references – the DHL uniform. Yes, really. Vetements, the ultra-cool Parisian brand designed by a collective and which shows in a Chinese takeaway, included a model wearing a DHL T-shirt in their spring/summer collection. A plain yellow blouse and red jeans signals you know your postroom chic, but could also be interpreted as a homage to Ellsworth Kelly.
Pink and red
The kind of colour combo that those outside of fashion wince at, red and pink have been familiar to insiders since the likes of Richard Nicoll put them on the catwalk in the mid-noughties. If that was a sort of minimal colour blocking, Gucci’s Allesandro Michele has added a retro spin. The synthetic gleam of bright red and sugar pink is one that has a touch of 70s or 80s party girl about it, especially when rendered in some sort of chiffon. See Yvonne Edel in Deutschland 83 for a reference, and add a pleat to get the Gucci feel.
Pale pink and baby blue
The Pantone combination is as pleasing as a unicorn emoji, as ice cold as Scream Queens’ Chanel Oberlin. Nineties references are rife here – Cher Horovitz, Shampoo, Claudia Schiffer on the Chanel catwalk in baby pink tweed – and should be enjoyed responsibly. Dial down the babydoll feel by using silhouette. Slouchy shapes allow grownup women to wear colours usually associated with babies’ rooms. Bonus.
Forest green and neon pink
Everyone knows that green sequins are a thing – see Kate Moss in Ab Fab, the Balmain x H&M collaboration and Gucci’s campaign. Move things on a bit by combining them with neon pink. There is no real evidence as to why, but it feels a bit sporty, a good combo for that cooling-down-after-a-5k humblebrag look. In a year that includes the Rio Olympics, it totally works. Gabby Douglas is bound to work it on a leotard at some point, we’d wager.
Burnt orange and bright blue
Burnt orange and bright blue have previous on the catwalk of Celine, and this season the two colours were seen on prints at Victoria Beckham. Fashion likes them because they’re a bit Cern, brights that have far more important things to be doing – like coding a Hadron Collider – than colouring your skirt. But, in that circling the square way that fashion has, they can now do that too.
