Pantone just released their color forecast for spring summer 2011.  The firm names this season as An Exotic Journey and suggests dusty tropical shades will be big:

So many sea colors!  Reminds me of Alexander McQueen & Proenza Schouler SS10, but muted.  Pretty exciting to have brown make a comeback, possibly.

Pantone’s forecasts are reliable – they seem so general, but the colors do emerge in lots of presentations, probably because some form of these forecasts made the rounds among fabric and leather manufacturers a year ago.  Then again, astute designers come to the same ideas regardless of color forecast exposure levels.

I’m glad we can all prepare for the upcoming fashion weeks and keep track of all the trends in advance.  It’s sometimes tough to assess where silhouettes come from and what they’ll mean for us.

But fashion’s not just about sorting out cultural trends and redefining identities.  Fashion also pairs well with shopping, and perhaps that was the inspiration behind the Pantone Visa Platinum card for SS11.  The card is available in five of the forecast colors.

No idea if those were deemed strong colors overall or just better suited for banking.  Maybe banking doesn’t crown a single champion color for the season the way fashion might.  Early bets are on honeysuckle, fashion-wise.  I wonder if there’ll be any correlation between popular card colors and popular clothing colors.  Maybe you get a card to go with your nails.  I don’t think these colors translate directly to fav sports teams.

The clean design makes these cards some of the most subtle in the platinum competitive landscape.  Whether or not regatta blue emerges as a strong hue for SS11, discretion will def be a key look for this slow recovery.

Get the Pantone Visa Platinum SS11 card here

Tags: Fashion/Design, Pantone, SS11