PANTONE’S 2020 CLASSIC BLUE

Words: Daniël Geldenhuys | Images: Getty

In case you missed it, luminous navy 19-4052 Classic Blue is Pantone’s 2020 Colour of the Year. There’s no denying that the annual announcement has a strong impact on the product hue zeitgeist. And it spans categories, with fashion usually being its most personal application. The way designers across the world worked the hue into their Spring 2020 collections a few months ago would make you think they were given a sneak peak at Pantone’s selection. (Whether or not you believe in a deep state of colour coordination is your prerogative).

Balenciaga’s Demna Gvasalia covered his entire set – a fashion take on a United Nations summit – in a very Classic Blue blue. His eerie commentary on global governance and corporate capitalism culminated in a grand velvet ballgown with a modern formality, very much in line with his peers’ interpretation of the colour. Pyer Moss’s Kerby Jean-Raymond rendered the colour in a shiny vintage-looking trouser, followed by a distinctly modern shirt party dress – all as part of his mission to shine a spotlight on overlooked African American history. Classic Blue was decidedly glamorous at Balmain, rendered in pleated perfection as a party dress and suit. That glamour was refined to its purest modern-retro form as Eckhaus Latta’s sequin scoop-neck maxi dress. Across these varied visions, it’s the sense of formality that binds.

This is 2020, which means you don’t have to see these outfits as some sort of mandate for how to dress. Fashion should be used to liberate, not dictate. Looking past the literal, you’ll discover the mindfulness that fuels formal dressing. Taking a moment to stop, breathe and consider your decisions, both in dressing and elsewhere in life, is a clear path to accessing the calmness and confidence associated with Classic Blue. Make this part of your style values, regardless of the colour you’re wearing.