Colour of the year 'looks like vomit' (+vote)

Pantone Reveals Color of the Year for 2015: PANTONE 18-1438 Marsala Photo / PRNewsFoto, Pantone LLC

Pantone, the authority responsible for determining what hue will prove most popular in the coming year, has announced its colour of 2015: Marsala.

And while the New Jersey-based company has been happily singing the praises of the "hardy, robust" red shade, the wine-inspired tone has already come under some serious fire from critics who have described it as "boring", "horrendous" and "just plain awful".

"Really, Pantone? That color looks like the vomit you might have after eating a bad chicken Marsala" Twitter user Gina Torrecilla proclaimed, while Matt Nagel said: "Marsala just isn't exciting. Radiant Orchid wasn't bad."

Despite the somewhat negative criticism, Leatrice Eiseman, executive director of the Pantone Color Institute, insists the hue will be incredibly popular in the New Year.

"Hardy, robust, satisfying, fulfilling," she said of the shade. "At the same time there's a certain glamour that's attached to this color."

Pantone's yearly color pick often serves as a good indication of what shades to expect in the coming year from fashion, beauty, housewares, home and industrial design and consumer packaging, though some years the influence is stronger than others.

The 2014 color of the year from the forecasters and industry consultants was Radiant Orchid, a deep tropical purple. The year before that it was Emerald green, while Tangerine Tango was the pick of 2012.

The idea, Eiseman explained in a recent interview, is not to choose a color that will necessarily "overtake the world", but rather one that will leave a lasting impression on a wide variety of industries.

Eiseman and her team travel the world to observe color at play.

They see Marsala being used in any number of ways, be it an accent wall in a living room or office, a swipe of eye shadow mixed with bronze for a metallic look, a throw pillow, the exterior of a car, or a bit of jewelry evoking the 1950s.
'It really does embody a certain amount of confidence and stability,' Eiseman added.

The hue isn't a risky one and the Pantone team believe it will work, whether in a nail polish, a frock on a runway or a pattern of stripes in a men's tie or florals for table placemats or bedding.

Eiseman noted the versatile shade was among colors Pantone flagged as spring/summer trends for 2015 earlier this year, as evidenced on the runways of Herve Leger by Max Azria, Dennis Basso and Creatures of the Wind, among other designers.

As they did with Radiant Orchid, cosmetics favorite Sephora has already announced the launch of a limited-edition collection of beauty products based on Pantone and its latest pick. Eiseman added that Marsala has been widely used in lipstick and hair color for years.

One of the color's strengths, she said, is the ease in combining it with gray, black, beige and other neutrals.

"It's a color that you can mix with what you already own," she explained. "You can add just a touch of it. That's the intent and purpose. It is not the color that swallows the world."

- Daily Mail