WhyYou Should Think Color This Season (NAPSA)—This season’s fashion forecast looks bright. From head-to-toe statements to daring combinations, fashion retailers are offering women a rainbow of flattering colors to choose from. Jewel tones are particularly important and shoppers will find a host of choices beyond traditional ruby red and sapphire blue. Emerald greens and garnets, aquamarine and amethyst are enriching this season’s selection. Colors inspired by nature such as loden, forest and indigo are also well represented. Colors once reserved for warmer months, such as turquoise and pink, have made a successful transition, bringing a softer edge to cold-weather wear. This emphasis on color is industrywide, a phenomenon that has caught many analysts by surprise. Typically, fashion trends are established by upscale brands and retailers and permutations of these trends are often not available to mainstream shoppersuntil a year or more later. This latest development is a win-win situation for shoppers. Nicole Shirley, divisional merchandise manager for La Redoute, the fastest growing women’s apparel catalog in the USA, sees shoppers responding positively to this color trend. “Color is just one of the many ways a woman can better define herstyle.” The trend manifests itself not only in the types of colors being offered, but in the variety. “La Redoute has merino-andcashmere-blend sweaters in eight colors including orange, turquoise and rose. Corduroys in seven colors including raspberry and pine green,” said Shirley. From jewel tones to colors inspired by nature, this season offers plenty of opportunities to express your style. This season’s color craze is emblematic of another trend in the industry: greater attention to detail. Mainstream retailers are offering finer fabrics and finish- ings at a solid value. Finishingsare used as a common theme to coordinate certain proprietary collections. La Redoute’s exclusive Unit Collection, for example, uses variations on a pansy pattern to line coats and to decorate tops, tees and more. All this is achieved while still managing to keep the retails low. “We have a fitted corduroy blazer, lined in a coordinating print with a snap front and snap cuffs for just $34.99,” said Shirley. La Redoute mails 22 U.S. catalogs a year. For more information, you can call 1-800-246-5111 or visit www.laredoute.com.
