Even if you're tired of hearing that brown is the "new black," you may not be aware of whom you have to thank for the latest color trend. It's Starbucks coffee, according to color forecaster Leatrice
Eiseman, executive director of Pantone Color Institute. Before Starbucks outlets started popping up on every corner in the mid-1990s, dark brown had an earthy, utilitarian reputation. Now, in
word-association studies, people described it as "rich" and "robust," as opposed to "dirt" or "earth."
Eiseman is part of a specialized group of professional forecasters who are the
invisible force influencing which colors walk down the runway. The Color Association of the U.S. comes up with 24 colors in a fashion forecast, says director Margaret Walch. Only a few will turn out
to be big sellers, but all the colors will be used in some way. Walch predicts that yellow, which has been showing up as an accent color, will make the biggest splash this spring. Colors from the
1800s, early 1900s and the 1940s--such as purple--are also providing inspiration for 2007. And down the road, the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing will add cultural colors.
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