One of the highlights of Raf Simons\u2019 Calvin Klein 205W39NYC collection for Spring 2019 was the acid-coloured ankle boots. The fluorescent\u00a0pink pair combined with yellow leopard-print trousers really tested the boundaries of colour perception. Against the backdrop of a crimson red carpet and a digital projection of a shimmering indigo ocean, Simons employed fuchsia, turquoise and orange to eye-popping effect \u2014 offering a subtle take on the overwhelming trend for neon that’s emerged in recent months. Vivid and synthetic, neon colours are just right for our visually oversaturated modern world \u2014 but they also expose the way that trends emerge and travel in contemporary pop culture.<\/p>\n
The explosion of a fashion trend always triggers the same sensation: \u201cIt\u2019s everywhere\u201d. Not only on the runways and in the media but also in places you\u2019ve never noticed it before. Let\u2019s take neon yellow (also dubbed frozen yellow): it\u2019s the colour of the Kim Kardashian bikini that garnered over two million likes on Instagram, but also the colour of a tennis ball, of a delivery man\u2019s light-reflective vest, of an ambulance. How come you\u2019ve never noticed it before? Frozen yellow, traffic-cone orange, fluorescent pinks and blues are embedded in our day-to-day surroundings \u2014 but right now they’ve infiltrated the fashion sphere in a major way and demanded to be seen.<\/p>\n"},{"acf_fc_layout":"instagram","code":"https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/p\/BniCWzKlwhI\/?hl=en&taken-by=kimkardashian","settings":{"width":"6"}},{"acf_fc_layout":"text_area","text_area":"
Neon has been on the rise for some time. Neon yellow was an integral part of the Yeezy Calabasas collection, which dropped in 2017, boldly contrasting with the neutral dusty hues of other garments that made up Kanye West’s stripped-back dystopian vision of LA highways. There were also streaks of hi-vis yellow and orange in the design of the hyped Yeezy 700 Wave Runner, while the new Yeezy 350 Butter sneakers offer a more toned-down, but still vibrant shade of yellow. Ottolinger produced burnt and deconstructed fluorescent yellow shirts and dresses for its AW17 collection, and emerging London-based designer Supriya Lele used it in her minimal take on traditional Indian dress for AW18. Now, however, neon is being embraced by truly huge fashion institutions \u2014 think: Virgil Abloh\u2019s menswear debut at Louis Vuitton and the return of Prada Linea Rossa, replete with an abundance of colourful nylon.<\/p>\n"},{"acf_fc_layout":"instagram","code":"https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/p\/BfoW-WaBqgj\/?hl=en&taken-by=supriya_lele","settings":{"width":"6"}},{"acf_fc_layout":"text_area","text_area":"
Neon colours encompass numerous cultural references. In combination with prints and voluminous streetwear, they channel the nostalgia for the euphoric spirit of \u201890s rave \u2014 as evidenced by PRISCAvera’s latest collection, unveiled earlier this week, or the frequent co-opting of electric hues by Jeremy Scott, Ashish and Liam Hodges to conjure a club kid aesthetic. They can also evoke a sense of sci-fi futurism, as per Prada\u2019s AW18 collection, flecked as it was with eye-popping colour. When used in combination with high-tech sportswear and synthetic materials, on the other hand, neons can be utilitarian, practical and almost mundane. Perhaps, what makes these colours so relevant is the very hybridity of their appeal, and how easily they transcend different contexts. Prada Linea Rossa padded jackets could easily give off workwear, rave or sleeker corporate vibes, but when worn by Kanye West and A$AP Rocky they become the perfect embodiment of the new cutting-edge luxury. Same goes for Virgil Abloh\u2019s Louis Vuitton men’s debut, where practical vests, holsters and cross-body bags were elevated by the designer’s elegant, new-era tailoring. Both commonplace and outrageous, neons are perfect both for Abloh, who is seeking to reinvent luxury, and for his emerging consumer.<\/p>\n"},{"acf_fc_layout":"instagram","code":"https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/p\/BkTFfuuj4Ji\/?hl=en&taken-by=louisvuitton","settings":{"width":"6"}},{"acf_fc_layout":"text_area","text_area":"
One of the most on-point descriptions of how colour trends work comes, funnily enough, from The\u00a0Devil Wears Prada,<\/em> the 2006 box office hit which offers an otherwise distorted perspective of the fashion industry. \u201cWhat you don’t know is that that sweater is not just blue, it’s not turquoise. It’s not lapis. It’s actually cerulean,\u201d says the influential fashion editor Miranda Priestly to her rookie assistant. \u201cAnd you’re also blithely unaware of the fact that in 2002, Oscar de la Renta did a collection of cerulean gowns. And then I think it was Yves Saint Laurent… wasn’t it, who showed cerulean military jackets? And then cerulean quickly showed up in the collections of eight different designers. And then it, uh, filtered down through the department stores and then trickled on down into some tragic Casual Corner where you, no doubt, fished it out of some clearance bin.\u201d<\/p>\n"},{"acf_fc_layout":"instagram","code":"https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/p\/BnXXOtjgqBB\/?hl=en&taken-by=kyliejenner","settings":{"width":"6"}},{"acf_fc_layout":"text_area","text_area":" The Devil Wears Prada<\/em> got it right about the process: how trends trickle down from the runways to the mass market. But in the era of social media-driven hype, the dissection of the emergence of fashion phenomena is not so straightforward anymore. In the contemporary cultural narrative, colours are often connected to a certain identity: like Millennial Pink or Gen-Z yellow. Neons belong to the hyper-polished celebrity culture: Kim Kardashian stepping out of a neon yellow Hammer in a matching outfit; Kylie Jenner wearing a highlighter-orange body-con dress; Nicki Minaj combining a bright pink latex gown with an acrid yellow puffer jacket. These images are going to send the wheels of fast fashion manufacturers spinning, and might also echo on the runway. Today, fashion is as much about the consumption of images as it is about the consumption of garments, and fashion trends endlessly travel back and forth through various cultural contexts. In this polyphony, it\u2019s indeed difficult to track them \u2014 but at least, in neon’s case, you\u2019ll be quick to notice.<\/p>\n"}]},"yoast_head":"\n