Trend: Colour of The Year 2017 - Greenery

How Color of The Year was chosen?

1. By noticing certain colors getting more attention in the fashion field

2. Travelling to different places, especially London, New York, Paris and Milan where you can see fashion on the street as the evidence of certain colors.

3. Up-to-date to the upcoming films/movies. In this case, they are focusing on what color and effects being used the most.

4. Up-to-date to the upcoming cars. "This is because when you talk about technology, you have to look at the finishes on cars because they are light-years ahead in the technology they use to create those colors. Once they get out there and people start to look at them, they say, "Wow, I'd like to have a lipstick in that color, I'd like to have a pair of shoes, I'd like to paint my living room that color.", said Leatrice Eisemen, Executive Director of the Pantone Color Institute.  

"For the color of the year, it's rarely a new color because we're not inventing colors—we're just taking a certain amount of color and applying new finishes to it, like you do in the textile world" - Leatrice Eiseman, Executive Director of the Pantone Color Institute.

Colour of the Year 2017 - "Greenery"

Concept of Color of the Year 2017 was about "environment". It signifies the beginning of fresh New Year; healthier food resolutions and growing vegetarian trends; grass and the outdoors during spring and summer. Basically, when we mention about environment, then automatically it will relate to the words such as go-green, nature, plant, Eco-friendly, recycle, etc. Apparently, by the advance of technology nowadays, everything was relate and take influence from the advance technology, which make a small possibility to have new upcoming trends or products which touch or inspired from nature. 

“At New York Fashion Week, the designers were explaining how we live in this modern world where technology will always exist, but there’s this need to turn to design to go to the opposite side, to Nature,”
- Laurie Pressman 

Through this "Greenery" colour of the yer 2017, it lead people to go back to the nature and produce new products or ideas base on Nature. Unlike the 2013 colour of the year "Emerald" which symbolized luxury, "Greenery" was focused on the opposite mood, minimalism. 
"Greenery" has been applied into the fashion runways, which can be seen at Gucci, Kenzo, Bagelencia, Michael Kors, Zac Posen, and Cynthia Rowley runways. 

Based on Colour of The Year 2017 "Greenery", eco-friendly related products (including fabrics) have been listed down under the topic of nature, which link back to our 2017 Colour of The Year.

1. Bamboo Fabric

Bamboo known as one of the most Eco-friendly materials on the market. The fast-growing grass makes this material favorable because it doesn’t need to be replanted, improves the soil quality, and can be grown without fertilizers or pesticides. Bamboo fabric also has a soft texture, therefore it suitable for baby clothing, bed linen, and towels. It is also moisture absorbent, hypoallergenic, and anti-bacterial.

2. Soy Silk Fabric / Vegetable Cashmere Fabric 

Advantages of Soy silk fabric: 

• derived from food production waste as it is made from the hulls of soy beans.
• light weight and silky soft texture, absorbs dyes quickly, and requiring less dye-stuffs.
• suitable for summer because of its excellent absorption qualities

3. Tencel Fabric

Tencel is a natural, man made fiber which is also referred to as Lyocell. It was made with wood pulp from sustainable tree farms.
Advantages of Tencel Fabric:

• Made from the natural cellulose found in wood pulp. The fiber is economical in its use of energy and natural resources, and is fully biodegradable.
• can be dyed to high quality standards.
• has natural breath ability and 50% greater moisture absorption than cotton.
• anti-bacterial.
• Soft, smooth, breathable, lightweight, create a nice drape.
• suitable for sensitive skin because of its wick abilities to keep the skin dry.
• resistant to wrinkles.

Disadvantages of Tencel Fabric:

• shrink in first washing, but retain its shape after that.
• more expensive than most Eco-fabric alternatives.

4. Organic/ Natural Cotton

• grown without the use of pesticides, herbicides or other chemical fertilizers.
• have a nice absorption of dye color 
• have the feel of linen
• anti allergenic fabric 
• smooth, light weight, reflects and absorbs light.
• offered in limited colors because traditional dyes are made from chemicals that must be avoided. 

5. Hemp Fabric

Advantages of Hemp fabric:

• Eight times stronger than cotton fiber in term of tensile strength.
• Exceptionally durable and strong Eco friendly fabric.
• Hypoallergenic and non-irritating to skin.
  (hypoallergenic: relatively unlikely to cause an allergic reaction)
• Able to kill staph and other bacteria that come in contact with its surface.
• UV and mildew resistant, absorbs moisture (suitable for summer, like linen and cotton).

Disadvantages of Hemp Fabric:

• wrinkles easily and scratchy
• not colorfast, so not rich in colors

References:

1. http://www.forbes.com/sites/karenhua/2016/12/09/pantones-color-of-the-year-2017-greenery-symbolizes-a-fresh-start-fashion/#7dacbdf31cda
2. http://www.glamour.com/story/how-does-pantone-pick-color-of-year
3. http://www.liahren.com/product/pics/20151222/1450748017.jpg
4. http://www.onegreenplanet.org/lifestyle/5-eco-friendly-fabrics-to-have-and-to-hold/
5. http://www.ecowatch.com/7-eco-friendly-fabrics-that-will-green-your-wardrobe-1881821403.html
6. http://www.the-eco-market.com/hemp-fabric/
7. http://www.the-eco-market.com/tencel-fabric/
8. http://www.the-eco-market.com/soy-fabric/
9. http://www.digitalartsonline.co.uk/cmsdata/features/3651461/pantone-coy2017-heroshot2-rgb.jpg