Patti Carpenter reviewed what's coming down the runway and analysed home decor demands this season to boil down autumn's colours and textures for the moda-savvy audience at the Darb 1718 cultural centre Deep into an economic crisis, says Patti Carpenter, fashion expert who has worked with the likes of Ralph Lauren, she was prepared to see that affect the tendencies for home decor. At the Darb 1718 cultural centre on Sunday night she gave a wrap up on th tendencies she saw. During trying times, says Carpenter, people prefer comfort colours, and this season they've chosen opposite sides of the spectrum; either the stability and confidence that muted colours give off or the bright cheerful colours of youth. The muted, neutral colours on the runway give the season an ambiance of high sophistication and back-to-earthness. It's hard to go wrong with these colours, especially in the home when people want more stability. They want to feel at peace at home and beiges, greys, white, black, tans do the trick. The colour that really turned this author's head is taupe: a cross between grey and beige. A less favoured colour is camel: a beige with a slight orange tint. One exception to the neutral palette are the go-getters; the type A's who in time of fight or flight, always choose to become bolder versus “riding it out.” These people's choice of colour? Reds. Orange-red or deep red, with the neutral palettes supporting it. Just a spattering of a few great pieces in red will really set off whatever neutral background - and embolden the bearer. A colour somewhere in between neutral and bright and that has gone in and out of style frequently is olive green. Yep, still reaching for those comforting 70s. It' seems it's popular for home decor, but it's a difficult colour to wear, considering the brighter olive greens, particularly, don't seem to compliment many complexions. Another exception to the neutral colour palette is ... sigh of happiness.... electric blue. Not turquoise or pastel blue. It's a blue that has an energy of its own and if you touch it. It will bring you to an apex. Electric. To open up the soul. Whereas the reds is usually a colour just for accents, this electric blue can dominate an entire wardrobe or room, changing shades slightly to give us the sensation of transparent water. Nature seemed to be highly important this season. People's hearts and minds welcome back something they've been missing for some time. Gone are super-metalics or fake pastels. Nature is in. Think: water, wood, leather, skin. It doesn't have to be exactly skin, faux is in. Look for patterns reminiscent of leapard skin, again in muted colours. This leads into textures, which have also gone away from super-refined and metalicky. Knitted, wood where you can really see the grain, fur, comfortable and lush velvets. They're all in strong this coming season, so we can relax into the warm hug of our highly-textured comfy chair or sweater. On the opposite side are bright childhood colours, surprisingly, but, yes. The tendencies were either solid neutral colours, or solid, bright primaries. Go figure. European street fashion is confirming Carpenter's analysis of the season, even in mid-summer.
