Pantone® Fashion Colour Trend Report Fall/Winter 2018 edition for New York Fashion Week showcased a surprising set of striking, bold and rich colour palettes with touches of unexpected soft pastel shades. From Oscar de la Renta to Marc Jacobs, these non-traditional colours that collectively exude self-expression, individualism and confidence were prominent.
Four distinct colour stories were established from the runways – Dark Opulence, Vivid Punch, Pale Royal, and Classic Neutrals.
We looked at how these colours fared on the retail front by analysing 10 of the biggest fast fashion e-tailers with a combined 186,355 data points and drew focus on women’s tops, outerwear, dresses, skirts, and playsuits & jumpsuits.
Note: [1] Omnilytics technical colour names that correspond to the Pantone colours were included for analysis purposes.
Total newly added SKUs in Fall/Winter 2018 Pantone colours was recorded at 6,260 items across the 10 e-tailers analysed. Classic Neutrals commanded the biggest newness in volume while Dark Opulence with bold regals dominated the new-in SKUs for fashion seasonal colours. Vibrant, striking colours within the unexpected Vivid Punch palette accounted for 17% of the newly added SKUs.
Red was the most prominent colour, with Valiant Poppy accounted for 24% (the highest percentage of new-in amongst all new shades of Red), followed by Red Pear at 21%. Ultra Violet, which was named Pantone Colour of the Year 2018, surprisingly captured only a mere 2% new-in rate.
The key seasonal colours increased in August (refer to Chart 2) to gear up for Fall, with the highest peak in September, especially across the Dark Opulence palette. All colours experienced a dip in November before rising again in December, except for Vivid Punch (Nebulas Blue, Russet Orange and Ultra Violet continued declining towards the end of the season).
Pale Royal fluctuated throughout the season but was stocked at a relatively low quantity, as pastels are traditionally less synonymous to fall or winter colour choices.
Meanwhile, Classic Neutrals, which consisted of staple neutral colours predictably showed a steady presence throughout the season.
Overall, most of the Pantone colours performed well across the 10 e-tailers, as sell-out closely matched new-in contributions (refer to Chart 4). This suggests that the fast fashion brands were spot on in tailing the runway colours and interpreting for commercial success.
Dark Opulence and Vivid Punch palettes were evidently the performing colour trends. Valiant Poppy (Vivid Red) not only registered a sell-out that over-performed its newness contribution by 3% but it was also the biggest contributor to sell-out amongst the fashion seasonal colours (refer to Chart 3).
Similarly, Pale Royal matched the sell-out rate with its new-in contribution too, despite contributing only 2% of total new-in.
Although Classic Neutrals contributed to the biggest newness, it observed a huge gap between its new-in and sell-out contribution as depicted by Sargasso Sea at 12%, which clearly showed signs of overstocking.
On the other extreme, Tofu and Quiet Grey recorded -3% variance against sell-out, indicating missed opportunities.
In the subsequent pages, we pulled together the bestselling and slow-moving styles for Dark Opulence, Vivid Punch and Pale Royal for a visual understanding on what has worked and what did not for fast fashion throughout FW2018.
One of the most popular colours this season, this deep red hue was commonly found across dresses and tops, in clean lines and sleek silhouettes.
Embroidered tops and off-shoulders underperformed this season.
This green shade was prominent in dresses made of luxe material such as satin and velvet, and was well received in outerwear such as coats and jackets.
Items with spring/summery vibes did not fare well among consumers.
