Colours trends for SS24 give the female body a voice
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From beige/pink to universal blue, passing through stimulating tones, the colour trends forecasted by specialists for women's spring/summer 2024 fashion, indicate women need to reclaim their bodies.
.As sales campaigns for the SS24 pre-collections get underway, and ahead of dedicated Fashion Weeks, it seems that the physical body is setting the tone for the season. "We had scorned the body. We relegated it to the sole role of a vessel. It had to be beautiful. A display case. We had handed over responsibility for our happiness to corrupt idols," wrote Louis Gérin & Grégory Lamaud, artistic directors for Texworld. “While the warmth of the sun on the skin filled with bliss. Too much bias, too much ego, too much at stake. But our senses don't lie. We decided to trust our bodies. Now we're wise."
Pink beige, orange pink, metallic effects designate a voluptuous sensuality
A feminine colour par excellence, pink remains at the top, but in a more softened way than the fuchsia powered by Valentino for winter 2022/23. According to WGSN, Fondant Pink is a pigmented pastel with an easy, youthful appeal. It marks the return of soft, mellow pink shades, which blend effortlessly with lilac and lavender tones. This hue evokes feelings of re-enchantment, which will become increasingly important to consumers by 2024. Small moments of wonder can act as an antidote to anxiety, improving well-being and slowing down the perception of time.
For Nelly Rodi, this sublimated body is an appeal to the senses, embodied in nude, pearl, rose petal colour, pearlescent effects, suggestive plays on transparency, but also metallic reflections, as if immersed in a golden bath, just like the "J'adore" perfume ad with Charlize Theron. "For the Splendor theme, we're exploring the priestess, vestal side of women," explained Catherine Basquin, director of the Nelly Rodi textile studio.
This heightened sensuality goes hand in hand with the ambiguity that plays out between real and virtual, resulting in a highly Instagrammable or ‘ TikTokable’ hyper eroticism. Here, the pinks are strengthened, expanding to mauve and fuchsia. Reds brighten up and move closer to orange. "Summer 2024 offers colours with unexpected counter-uses. Summer blushes and saturated pinks illuminate the range with their brilliance, supported by the radiance of yellows," wrote Peclers Paris.
Toning colours to set the body in motion
The current exhibitions "The Language of the Body" (agnès b), "Fashion in Motion” (Palais Galliera) and the forthcoming "Fashion and Sport: From one catwalk to the next" (Musée des Arts Décoratifs) also reflect this focus on the body. What's more, the summer of 2024 will inevitably be marked by the Olympic Games.
A sporting season, then, which translates into a vitamin-rich palette of yellow, orange, sky blue, turquoise green, mauve, but also ranges inspired by sports clubs, a little less acidic, more vintage, such as reds, in the image of Roland Garros clay court; greens evoking golf courses or pool blues. "The societal challenge is to get people moving after a period when society was immobilised (Covid obliges)," pointed out Catherine Basquin.
Pixel sky, digital magenta, coral fiction, chlorophyll gel, azure laser define SS24 according to Première Vision, widely deploying a differentiating potential. Its power of attraction is amplified by luminosity. This new radiance releases a stimulating energy, multiplying tenfold the power of influence of these tones. The harmonies, composed vertically and horizontally, offer a two-way reading, for a SS24 rich in multiple chromatic interactions.
Pushing the principle of playfulness to its extremes, Texworld's trendsetters jubilated: "What if the world didn't make sense? What if our sole purpose was to play? What if it were just a huge farandole, from which our seriousness has kept us away for so many years? Like a child, we need to look at this world with playful eyes. On the world, and on ourselves.”
White, brown and blue: The return of natural colours
The fact remains that this re-enchantment of the female body comes after a period of upheaval: the MeToo movement, or the need to purify what has been defiled; non-gender or the desire to break gender codes deemed enslaving; and, by extension, the desire to free oneself, to be able to be natural or sophisticated as one pleases (in opposition to the stereotyped aesthetics on social networks, mentioned above).
In this context, all shades of white are invited: pure, off-white, alabaster, cream, linen (in reference to the material), clay, ecru, ivory, jasmine, ceruse, etc. Intense pigments, accustomed to expressing summer cheerfulness, make way for more subdued, bleached or greyed ranges, which temper the palette, while dark and very dark shades give it relief. Additive-free hues are reminiscent of wetlands, warm soils and cool lights (golden sand, raw wax, cold sun, mud bath).
"Interest in sobriety and practicality is driving the rise of medium and neutral tones, which are linked to changing lifestyle choices, now anchored in the search for serenity and balance," reported WGSN. "Earth tones evoke the importance of sustainable fashion, between nature and construction, tradition and modernity, from simplicity to sophistication,” stated Peclers Paris.
From terra cotta to hazelnut, these shades have an inherent warmth and tactility that evoke themes of authenticity and craftsmanship. Thanks to its chromaticity, brown can be combined with a wide range of materials, both natural and synthetic. And, in particular, with blue, which, for the menswear season, will be the flagship colour of SS24.
Denim, indigo, medium, washed, pastel, lake, sky blue, etc. According to Nelly Rodi, blue brings people together. It's international, which means it has no pejorative connotations anywhere in the world, and is therefore a unifying force. In these times of uncertainty and fear of chaos, it's hardly surprising that refreshing, soothing blue is a sign of the need for a new horizon on the dawn of 2024.
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