Color forecasters gather clues from pop culture, technology and social trends like the environmental movement to determine where color is headed next. A movie could be the key to an inspired prediction. Forecasters saw the acidic yellow-green of "Shrek" coming long before you bought your first yellow-green shirt.
Sometimes, they say, it's more subtle: One hot color this fall, purple, is connected to a return to spirituality, mysticism and historical colors from the Victorian era.
But color prediction doesn't mean you have to toe the line.
"Today it's not about the one color that pushes everything out of the way," said Leatrice Eiseman, of Pantone Color Institute. "People are a little more practical. They want to have some ... good dependable neutrals and want the fun colors."
— Nicole Tsong, Times staff reporter
Green is still showing up in kids' toys, such as a Fisher-Price Roll-a-Rounds Twirlin' Whirlin' Turtle. (FISHER-PRICE)
The shade of green popularized in part by the cartoon character Shrek has shown up everywhere: in furnishings such as this lamp. (DEAN RUTZ / THE SEATTLE TIMES)
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<strong>Shrek turns the world green</strong>
Women's blouses (DEAN RUTZ / THE SEATTLE TIMES)
North Face jacket
(DEAN RUTZ / THE SEATTLE TIMES)
Pantone featured a sketch — shown in the background — of a J. Mendel purple dress in its 2006 Fall Fashion Forecast, issued last spring. By last month, Evangeline Lilly (above) and Cheryl Hines (next photo) were among those who picked purple for the Emmy Awards in Los Angeles. (CHRIS PIZZELLO / AP)
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<strong>Purple reigns for fall</strong> (BILL BLASS)
Shoes by Anne Klein (DEAN RUTZ / THE SEATTLE TIMES)
Cheryl Hines in purple at the the Emmy Awards in Los Angeles. (THE ASSOCIATED PRESS)
Bag by Beijo (DEAN RUTZ / THE SEATTLE TIMES)
