...mostly green it seems. And it really is a conspiracy.
This season's colour appears to be bright green in various shades, honestly, everything that comes through the door right now seems to be green. Nice green for sure, but undoubtedly and incontrovertibly, green in various slightly clashing, generally bright hues...
The evidence? Well here are four examples to start with: Rab's MecCo zip-neck base-layer top, Icebreaker's Sierra Hood Realfleece jacket, the rather lovely Haglöfs Isogon Hood and, most recently, the Smartwool Midweight Hood...
They all have one thing in common, well three of them have hoods as well, but let's put that on one side for now, they're all in various shades of retina-burning green. It's like, well, it's like THERE'S A CONSPIRACY!!!
As if all the outdoor clothing designers in the world have been locked in a room and told exactly which colours they have to use this year. Which sounds a bit far fetched, but actually is true. You and I aren't supposed to know this, but out there, operating in the rainbow-hued fringes of the clothing universe, are actual colour forecasting consultants.
Their job, quite simply, is to tell designers and brands which colours will be 'hot' a year or so down the line. All the top outdoor designers are herded into a lecture theatre and given a selection of colours which will, say the forecasters, be 'in' a few seasons in the future.
The designers go away, pick their chosen fabrics and colours bearing in mind the forecast and lo and behold, suddenly, 18 months later, the shops are awash with bright green. Call me cynical, but colour forecasting on that basis seems like a self-fulfilling prophecy - you tell the designers that green is the in colour, they make loads of green garments and hey, you were right, green is the colour to be seen in. Funny that.
Told you it was a conspiracy. All we need now is a shadowy figure who's cornered the market in green textile dyes and stands to make millions as a result. So now you know...
