Pen and ink is having a moment. Black lines against a white ground inform prints, embroideries and intarsias; motifs suggest astrological diagrams, toiles, Aubrey Beardsley curlicues or vintage illustrations. Dior even used a model drawing with ink and brush for their Spring 18 campaign, emphasizing the timeless sensuality of the hand-drawn line.
Bright frankly-fake versions of leopards and zebras offer a fun-fur break from all the sumptuous naturals adorning the runways. Many of these use graphic black motifs against a day-glo ground, recalling styles from the mid to late 1980s — when designer Stephen Sprouse took the trashy aesthetic of punk and transformed it into something luxurious (while magically retaining the downtown grit).
The newest pink is not the meditative, gender-bending, leaning-towards-neutral millennial pink. For next spring, designers explore the gutsy bubblegum varieties of the hue, made even more sticky sweet with tulle flower petals, slick coated surfaces or punched-out eyelet lace. Used in strong shapes and accented with crimson red for boots or belts, these orchid pinks pack a punch that is more erotic than insipid. As feminist artist, Lynda Benglis states, “Pink is a very floral, lush color. …No color is quite as seductive as this color is in nature.”
The newest pink is not the meditative, gender-bending, leaning-towards-neutral millennial pink. For next spring, designers explore the gutsy bubblegum varieties of the hue, made even more sticky sweet with tulle flower petals, slick coated surfaces or punched-out eyelet lace. Used in strong shapes and accented with crimson red for boots or belts, these orchid pinks pack a punch that is more erotic than insipid. As feminist artist Lynda Benglis states, “Pink is a very floral, lush color. …No color is quite as seductive as this color is in nature.”