Spring is already (or finally!) at our doors, and with it comes a fresh new palette of colours for everyone to enjoy and to celebrate the warmer days ahead. Since I’m a colour expert, I’m often asked which ones are trending, but most of the time, people don’t understand where these trends come from or what they mean. So, here are my top 5 colours for the spring and why I think they’re important.
FRESH START
For the first time in my career, I’ve named my very own colour of the year, and unlike Pantone, I didn’t pick a magenta shade as the hue of the hour. In my opinion, Classic Green (16-6340 TPX)—which I’ve renamed Fresh Start because, hey, don’t we all need one at this point—is the colour we’ll see everywhere this spring. In fact, we’ve been seeing it for quite some time already. It’s one of the last colours Queen Elisabeth II wore when she celebrated her Platinum Jubilee, and that’s no coincidence: always ahead of the trends, she set the tone season after season.
And because we’re all talking about climate change and still looking for the equilibrium we need to recover from a pandemic nobody was ready for, a fresh, lush green is the perfect, most wonderfully balanced hue to come to the rescue. When we surround ourselves with green, time flies faster, and we tend to absorb more oxygen. Fresh Start resonates with the green buds and flower blossoms we’re so eager to see as spring finally returns.
VIVA MAGENTA
Pantone is the world authority on colour, so it’s no surprise that their 2023 Colour of the Year is the season’s dominating hue. Pantone’s Colour of the Year is increasingly popular with its every announcement, and Viva Magenta (18-1750 TPX) is an invitation to express ourselves after so many seasons in pandemic isolation. And this colour couldn’t be more appropriate. If you want to make a statement, there’s no colour better suited.
DIGITAL LAVENDER
WGSN has spoken! According to the world’s leading consumer-trend forecaster, Digital Lavender is the colour of 2023. Generally associated with nostalgia, lilacs have struggled to come of age, but they’re finally breaking through with a whole new narrative: purple is the colour of the new digital era. Maybe that’s because lavender is such a soft, nostalgic colour, and we’re now looking for ways to humanize technology. Whatever the case, you can’t go wrong with anything from the lavender/lilac family this season.
ICED LATTE
Warm neutrals are taking over! Reminiscent of warm sand underfoot, lighter browns give us much-needed stability and the promise of warmer days ahead. While beige usually plays a supporting role to trendy colours from one season to the next, it’s finally taking centre stage—and we’re here for it! Forget about your grandmother’s underwear, beige is now perceived as sexy. With our sense of touch and human contact by the years of pandemic measures, it’s no wonder colours associated with skin tones are becoming so popular.
ROYAL BLUE
Royal Blue is iconic, and that’s not about to change. While blue is always a very popular colour, most consumers now have their eyes on the more electric and royal versions. Maybe, just like with Viva Magenta, an exciting blue is a colour of self-expression! With such a large selection of Royal Blue items, let’s just say that we at S&S Canada are more than ready for spring!
But What About Mixing and Matching?
Have you ever heard the expression “blue and green should never be seen”? If this were truly the case, Mother Nature would be completely in the wrong, what with all her bright, blue skies overlooking lush green forests and grasslands. Truth be told, blue and green make a lovely pair!
In fact, all the colours mentioned in this top 5 go very well together. Try mixing and matching to make bold colourful combinations. ’Tis the season of self-expression after all!
Check out these on-trend colours at S&S CANADA!
About the Author
Marie-Chantal Milette is one of the world’s very few colour experts. She’s a graphic design and advertising graduate of The Creative Circus, a world-class school and industry-leading creative incubator, and she also had the chance to pursue advanced colour training with Leatrice Eiseman, director of the Pantone Colour Institute and world leader in colour psychology and trend prediction. This experience allowed her to make the most of her talent by channeling it into many successful branding operations.
In both 2013, 2016, and 2021, she successfully predicted Pantone’s Colour of the Year months before the official announcement was made.