fashion forward

From Habitat magazine - issue 21

Resene celebrates the release of a new fashion fandeck and says choosing a new interior scheme is just like buying new clothes.

Fashion. It affects so many facets of our lives: our clothes, our homes, our cars, even our digital devices.

Most of us find it relatively easy to figure out what clothes to buy so why is it that sometimes we freeze with fright when it comes to painting our walls with new and interesting colour?

With a pot of paint that costs less than a nice dress, you can change the look of one room so easily... and have interiors that stay up to date and fresh.

The advice for clothes and interiors is similar in one major respect: Buy classic staples, then update your look regularly by adding fashion pieces, colours and accessories. A classic black dress, a well-cut white shirt and good leather boots may be the mainstays of your wardrobe, while a beautifully made sofa, a classic white kitchen and a timeless oak dining table may be the mainstays of your interiors.

Then you simply add new cushions, rugs, and colour to the walls for a fresh new look.

Embrace your inner child and be spontaneous. Add that bold happy colour you've always loved. Sure, it might not last 10 years but the enjoyment you'll get out of it in the short term will far outweigh feeling trapped by safe choices.

And, of course, Resene is always there to help, not just with its vast range of colours, but with its regular release of the popular The Range fashion colours fandeck. The latest fandeck hit the Resene ColorShop shelves this spring. Just recently, Resene also hosted a New Zealand Fashion Week spectacle, where the lustrous colours and vibrant patterns of hand-woven silks from the ancient looms of a Southern-India village were recreated as high fashion by students in the Resene NZ Fashion Tech Colour of Fashion collection.

High fashion meets colour

Young Kiwi fashion designers took up the challenge to turn silks into high fashion recently at a Resene-sponsored event for New Zealand Fashion Week.

50 silks inspired by paint colours from Resene were selected. Then 45 students from NZ Fashion Tech's Diploma classes in Auckland and Wellington were briefed to design and make a contemporary-chic fashion look from the delicate hand-woven silks, responding to the Resene paint colour they had been given.

The result was a colour spectacle. Marketing manager Karen Warman of Resene says: "Paint colours have for many years been inspired by colours seen on catwalks and in the latest fashion trends. It's a nice twist to reverse the order and have paint colours used as inspiration for the catwalk."

The new Resene

The Range fashion colours 16 introduces a rich array of exciting new colours based on global interior trends but adapted to local conditions. Here are the key colour philosophies behind the new collection: Against a backdrop of perennial favourites like deep blue reds, blacks and soothing duck egg and greyed blues, pops of orange and yellow add touches of upbeat liveliness and rejuvenation.

Dusty and smoky, there is a new palette of colours coming through that feels timeless, gently weathered and softened. Easy to live with and coordinate, they're a sophisticated alternative to cleaner pastels. They bring with them a sense of being more grounded and less airy than the pastels of recent years.

Reds are strong and powerful, with influencing blue tones, such as the ever-popular Resene Pohutukawa and new Resene Red Letter. Fire engine red is not to be ignored with hues such as Resene Havoc.

Blues become mutable, crossing over to stormy greyed hues as well as sea-washed tones. Fresh blues, like Resene Skydiver, ground the more powdery tones. Purples are wild and glorious, shining forth with alluring boldness.

Grey has hidden depths; sometimes blue, sometimes green. Once the complement, it's now a feature. Deep grey, such as Resene Half Bokara Grey, appeals to those who yearn density and depth but don't want to commit to the starkness of black. Beige is still big, but greige offers a new sleeker alternative.

When it comes to green, the coming trends are diverse. On the dark side there are the earthy camouflage and nature inspired shades with hues such as Resene Seaweed. On the lighter side there are the striking look-at-me greens, such as Resene Kakapo. For something more restful there are fresh mint and airy greens.

Neutrals act as a backdrop to the brights, a launch pad as you progress down the path to bolder choices. Blackened neutrals such as Resene Quarter Alabaster continue their popularity and work well with the deep grey accents, while green-edged neutrals like Resene Ragamuffin are on the up-swing.

Browns are turning more yellow toned. Warm dark browns, such as Resene Rough N Tumble, are an excellent sophisticated pairing with timber or to contrast other colour choices. There's a rise in rich bronzed browns and dense ochre golds, like Resene Intrepid.

See the Resene The Range fashion colours 16 at www.resene.com/range16.

Top trends

• Use colour/ blocking, stripes and stencilling to combine favourite colours for a personalised look. Rotate stripes to the vertical and don't just restrict yourself to the walls – furniture, flooring, spread your creativity around.
• Coloured ceilings: once pure white, ceilings are increasingly being painted to complement or accent the wall colour. Wall colours that extend onto the ceiling create a sense of enclosure. Bold feature colours on ceilings are the next frontier; a new twist on a feature wall.
• Walls are becoming multipurpose, with clever products to turn them into write-on walls, chalkboards or magnet boards.
• Enhance the raw beauty of natural materials with protective products. Think concrete wax on concrete floors and benchtops, clear finishes on timber and water repellents on exterior concrete. These products protect the surface and keep it looking good without changing the aesthetic.

Want to get your own free copy of future issues of habitat magazine?

Printed copies of habitat highlights are available from late March 2024 at Resene ColorShops and resellers, while stocks last. You can view back issues of habitat magazine online.

• Specifiers:

  • Earn CPD points reading this magazine – If you're a specifier, earn ADNZ or NZRAB CPD points by reading habitat magazine. Once you've read an issue request your CPD points via the CPD portal for ADNZ (for NZ architectural designers) or NZRAB (for NZ architects).  Join our specifier and trade database...

If you have an idea, project or story that you think would suit habitat, we’d love to hear from you. Please drop us an email with your details and include photos if submitting a project.

Sign up for a DIY card and Save! Australia | New Zealand