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	<18K yellow gold ring with a pink pearl and yellow beryl briolettes from Maria T Fine Jewelry.
By Marlene A. Prost

When a person is feeling stressed, he or she may turn to music, food, or nature for comfort.

When a society is feeling stressed — as the United States has felt recently — it seeks comfort, too. That comfort can take many forms — including the colors we surround ourselves with.

Goodbye, neon orange, chartreuse, and hot pinks — this coming spring, colors in fashion and industry will be softer and more soothing. Instead of psychedelics, colors in 2006 are influenced by water (blues, blue-green, and teal), nature (beige, yellow-green, and creamy white), and milder shades of primary colors (coral, lilac, and peach).

“Color is very emotional. It’s directed by how we live our lives. We want colors around us; they make us feel good,” says Melanie Wood, past president of Color Marketing Group (CMG), a color forecasting association.

"Dynasty" necklace with turquoise, onyx, lapis, fossils, and sterling silver from Betty Holland of Sophisticated Stones.

“Colors are becoming very comforting. We have enough craziness in the world to have jarring colors around us. For the most part, colors are softening. For example, orange is moving into the peach family.”

“Warmer, clearer, and brighter” is how CMG describes the colors we’ll be seeing in fashion next spring. Colors won’t be neon, nor pastel, but “mid-tone bold. They’re going to be just where people are going to be,” says Wood.

“Color this season is toned down, more muted. They’re not pastels, not brighter, but a nuance in between,” concurs Leatrice Eiseman, executive director of the Pantone Color Institute. “Designers have taken a deep breath for spring 2006. After several seasons of ‘color! color! color!’, it’s time to relax a little. . . . We see this relaxation in the prevalence of blues, neutrals, and the classicism of black and white.”

Pantone’s color experts develop the Pantone View Color Planner up to three years in advance for a range of industries and manufacturers, including fashion. But they don’t know for sure what colors fashion designers have chosen until the models sashay down the runway. At this September’s fashion shows, three of the top 10 colors were shades of blue: “deep ultramarine,” “skyway,” and “blue tint.” The number one color on the runway was a neutral shade, “sand dollar”; the other top colors were French vanilla, lily green, cameo pink, melon, clove (brown), and viola.

“We’re still showing pinks, but they are getting dustier, almost going to old-fashioned. We've seen a transition. A lot of people are taking it into corals, a range of soft reds and apricots,” says Britt Bivens of Promostyl.

Aqua, red-orange, yellows, and neutrals also top the spring/summer 2006 color predictions by International Colour Authority, a United Kingdom-based color trend forecasting service.

“This is a clear, bright, up-beat palette featuring reds and blues,” says Katrina Bennett, editor of World Colour News. The International Colour Authority has predicted four “palettes” of color for spring 2006, with the evocative names of popular resorts: Montreaux is a “cool” palette of pale and neutral shades like whitened aqua, soft beige, spring yellow, dusky pink and sky gray; Ma’rib is a range of “glamourous” colors like copper, mustard, leaf green and sun yellow; Rio includes rich colors like ultramarine, warm orange, red and deep grape, acid peach, nude beige, and bitter chocolate brown; and Bora Bora features watery colors like aqua, deep cerulean blue, turquoise, mint, and golden green.

Dominant trends for 2006

Color forecasters don’t have a crystal ball. What they do have is a sense of the zeitgeist of the culture and how it influences color and fashion. Several trends stand out for the year 2006: an interest in the environment; nostalgia for the past; and an interest in luxury.

Earrings made with 18K gold and 3 ctw. of peridot from Suzy Landa.

“We look at . . . how people live that’ll make them buy in a certain way,” looking at factors from global affairs to theater, explains Wood. CMG has identified six influences that drive color in 2006: a techno-organic balance between nature and technology; breathing space from the stress of work; “heritage with heart” and nostalgia for better times; a hybrid fusion of elements; uber luxury; and color depth.

The hybrid factor, in particular, will influence fashion. “It’s almost a gypsy feel; anything goes,” says Wood. “Fusion hasn’t hit fashion until now. It’s a wonderful look; we accept things that are not expected to be put together.” This Bohemian look puts jewelry out front, adds Wood. “One bracelet isn’t going to be enough.”

Color themes usually last from spring to fall, growing darker and deeper for the colder seasons. While this is true for 2006, next year we’ll see even less of a change than usual.

“Five years ago, every season there was something new. . . . We’re not in a time when colors are changing a lot” from season to season, says Bivens of Promostyl. She suggests two reasons: the sluggish general economy and a more educated consumer, who “understands the luxury market, [that] you don't need a new wardrobe each season.” The important colors next fall will be purples and ochres, predicts Bivens. “We’re going to see a lot of the same: clear blues and teals. purples, shades of coral orange. . . . Pinks are dustier; they’re still around, but taking more of a backseat.” Purples will become richer for winter, and a burnt orange will be “almost a winter version of corals.”

“Usually what you see [from spring to fall] is evolution rather than revolution. It’s unusual to see a whole new palette come in to replace spring,” says Eiseman of Pantone. That’s even more true in 2006, she says. Next spring’s clothing is already “more subdued, not as bright. . . . You’re going to see a continuation of softer colors appear [for fall 2006].”

Impact on jewelry

The spring color palette is a “great forecast for jewelry,” says Margaret Walch of the Color Association of the United States. “An easy way to add color is with accessories, and jewelry is the easiest [accessory]. . . . You’ll look undressed without jewelry. It’s a way to put a lot of color on your person.”

Here’s how next year’s color palette translates into colored gemstones, says Walch:

• The predominance of gray, white, and taupe suggests various shades of pearls: white, pink, creamy, and crystal shell.
• The emphasis on bold, red-orange suggests coral.
• Blue-green, waterlike shades are reflected in turquoise, opal, and aquamarine.
• More yellow-greens means a market for emerald, tourmaline, and peridot.
• The Bohemian look is complemented by vintage jewelry. Popular stones include orange-yellow, agates, topaz, and amber.
• The luxury look is complemented by “ladylike” red and purple, in stones like rubies, amethyst, and garnet.

An 18K gold brooch/pendant with tanzanite and chalcedony druzy from Denise Wood Designs.

Looking ahead to the year 2007, Walch predicts a growing interest in seashell and pearl; ladylike floral tones like red, coral, and purple; aquatic shades of blue; “biosphere” greens; and earth colors, mixing brown, pink, orange, yellow, gray, and tan.

“It’s a multi-color mix. We haven’t seen so many colors mixed together. It’s a great jewelry look. You can do it easily in small quantities,” says Walch.

Many color forecasters are reluctant to publicly predict the future of color a year in advance, in part because it is proprietary information available only to member industries.

“We work on what we believe is happening professionally. . . . A lot of products are already on the drawing board,” says Wood. In general, she adds, “It can be so frightening to give ideas of 2007. . . . It’s too early. [The colors] aren’t out there yet. Our minds aren’t ready for them.”

November/December 2005 • Style: Color's Crystal Ball: The Colors of 2006 • Sources: World Mining Report • News & Updates • In This Issue