the color purple

Hard as I may try, I can't recall owning anything purple. I don't remember the color coming into fashion at any point in my life. My strong Catholic upbringing taught me that purple is the official hue of Lent, a somber reminder of the death and suffering of Jesus Christ.

In my experience, no guy wore purple to parties. No one drove a purple car. Or lived in a purple house.

At work, clients of mine are not likely to approve advertising layouts with the color purple. For them, it's a sad color and will not sell.

But it's payback time for purple. Today, fashion's most influential designers have labeled it the 'color of the year'.

Check out their Spring 2009 collections:

(Left to right) Emporio Armani, Badgley Mischka, Elie Saab

Balenciaga, Emilio Pucci, Gucci

Louis Vuitton, Anna Sui, Emanuel Ungaro

John Galliano, Versace, Etro

Okay, okay. The women's dresses look terrific. However, the men's outfits look a bit... too much?

But I must say: it's great that people have become more open to unpopular color choices. From something as mundane as pushing purple on the runways to something as historic as putting a black president in the White House. Change is good! :-)

(Top) The purple 'West One' Bearbrick is part of 2004 Bearbrick World Wide Tour (Set B) released in Osaka, Japan.

Fashion pics from style.com

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