Fashion’s Spring Colors Are Good Enough To Eat

Nothing gets us as excited as decoding the colors of the season. At fashion month SS20 designers across the board turned away from the back-to-basics neutral palette they’d adopted just a year ago, embracing instead juicy, zesty, and sweet shades that were good enough to eat. We may be stuck at home for the foreseeable future, but who doesn’t want a sartorial serotonin boost to keep spirits up? From tangy sherbet lemon and satsuma to softly-does-it mint green and lavender-field lilac, there’s a standout shade for every taste, so we shot found objects from around the house to reflect our current colorful mood.

Cherry Tomato

Pantone’s 18-1662 shade is called Flame Scarlet but for us the hue is no doubt that of a rich and juicy cherry tomato. “Burning bright, Flame Scarlet exudes confidence and determination,” reads the shade’s description and we couldn’t agree more: this one ain’t for wallflowers. Christopher Kane’s frothy, frilled spaghetti strap dress was our favorite at London Fashion Week, while Acne Studios and Chromat made a great case for pairing the color with ice-white shoes. Vibrant tomato hues complement all skin tones and look great when doubled up with matching lipstick, too.

Sherbet Lemon

We’ve waxed lyrical about the joy of yellow before and this season the sunny hue is permeating collections and bringing a much-needed dose of optimism to our wardrobes. Pantone’s 13-0822 is dubbed Sunlight — “inviting happiness, pleasant cheer, and a smiling presence” — but we much prefer the connotations of tongue-tingling sherbet lemon, which we saw at Jacquemus’ dreamlike lavender field show in Provence (lilac and lemon make great bedfellows, FYI) and in London at JW Anderson and Emilia Wickstead.   

Frothy Cappuccino

Soft-touch neutrals from camel to greige were so pervasive a few seasons ago that we thought we were seeing fashion month street style through sepia-tone eyes. Thankfully the trend moved on and richer shades of brown came to the fore. Enter: cappuccino, which allows monochrome loyalists to feel as though they’re mixing things up and is the perfect neutral for maximalists to pair with everything from fuchsia to fiery red. Gucci and Fendi presented loose-fitting brown gowns in soft fabrics, while Alberta Ferretti gave us an homage to Laura Dern’s turn in Jurassic Park.

Mint Green

Shades of green, from crunchy apple to biohazard neon to classic Kermit, have reigned supreme for some time now. Last season more serious and subdued tones like olive and sage dominated, but for spring and summer 2020, it’s all about staying minty fresh. From Fashion East to Lacoste via Christian Wijnants in New York, mint greens clashed with baby pinks and zesty oranges for the ultimate Instagram-friendly palette pairing.

Zingy Satsuma

Much like green, orange took up the mantle of fashion’s favorite color after millennial pink and Gen Z yellow got old. Pantone calls this one Orange Peel – “a tasteful tang” – and it couldn’t feel more fresh. A highly saturated warm orange, we saw designers as varied as Stella McCartney, Marni, and Bottega Veneta embrace the satsuma hue this season. Another shade that gets stronger when paired with white accessories, it’s the only color we’ll be donning on our long-awaited holidays. 

Parma Violet

Finally, the most fanciful colour of the bunch: Parma Violet. The saccharine shade of purple lends itself well to the trappings of hyperfemininity, from frills to ruffles, and only gets more vivid when paired with reds, yellows, and greens. Preen by Thornton Bregazzi topped off a tulle gown with silver ballet pumps, Givenchy belted its voluminous creation, and Loewe gave lilac a thoroughly modern twist with white piped edging. Sweet!

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How To Get The Perfect Tie-Dye Every Time, According To Fashion Designers

The process of at-home tie-dyeing is far from new. In fact, we’ve been doing it since we were kids — at sleepovers, summer camps, and oh-so-many birthday parties. But as adults, upon feeling the need to add a ‘70s-inspired punch to our wardrobes, we often choose to purchase something pre-dyed rather than doing the work ourselves. Now though, with more time on our hands, what’s stopping us from returning to our former DIY glory days? Even better, you don’t need to buy any new clothing — just use whatever’s at home. 

“I love the transformative nature of dyeing: taking something you’ve had and giving it a second life,” says Christina Tung, the founder of SVNR, a DIY jewelry and ready-to-wear brand that specializes in tie-dyed slip dresses. Abacaxi designer Scheena Sood agrees, assuring that the process is hard to mess up. “With tie-dye, I really love that you basically can never go wrong,” she says. “I always enjoy seeing the surprise as the design is revealed.” 

While, both designers agree that there’s beauty in the resulting design, no matter how it turns out, there is some technique that goes into making sure that the greens don’t mix with the yellows to form a not-so-flattering brown hue you’ll never want to wear.

With that in mind, the designers behind our favorite tie-dye fashions were more than happy to share how they get the perfect at-home spiral every time. Ahead, their tips.

Step 1: Pick your materials

Before any dyeing can commence, you have to pick out what exactly it is that you’re going to tie-dye (sweatshirts, T-shirts, tube socks, and cotton underwear are easy to come by and perfect for at-home wear), and what materials you’re going to use to do it. 

According to Hillary Taymour, the designer behind cult sustainable brand Collina Strada, all you need are some brightly colored vegetables, her favorites being beets and turmeric. Tung, on the other hand, prefers using Dharma Trading dye powders. You’ll also need soap (if using used clothing), buckets or pots for your dye (Sood warns against using kitchen pots, FYI), a squirt bottle (if you prefer to apply the dye rather than dunk the clothing in it), rubber bands or clamps depending on your preferred method (more on that below), gloves, and a place to dry your finished products (a clothing line or drying rack will work).

Step 2: Mix your dye with warm water

Once you’ve chosen what dyes to use, just add them to a squirt bottle or pot/bucket with warm water and mix together. “I like the colors to be a bit uneven and complex so I’ll mix the red with a bit of green and other colors so that results are a bit earthier, unexpected, and not so bright and perfect,” Tung says. 

Sood goes a step further: “Add some salt as a mordant for cotton or vinegar if dyeing wool, and then stir until completely mixed,” she says. “You don’t want any chunks of dye sitting at the bottom or flecks sitting at the top.”

Step 3: Create a tie-dye pattern of your choice with rubber bands

There are tons of different patterns to choose from when tie-dyeing. According to Sood, you can scrunch and tie your garment with rubber bands, fold your garment and clamp it together, or even stitch your garment together to create various effects. 

“I love exploring with Shibori, the Japanese art of tie-dyeing, to create motifs and different patterns,” she says. “It can become very intricate and detailed or abstract depending on how much time you have on your hands.” She also uses a technique called Tegumo, which “involves creating circular pleats and tying them with rubber bands to create either circular-, diamond-, or square-shaped motifs.” She also suggests tying a marble or di inside of the aforementioned circular pleats and using an Indian technique called Leheriya, which involves twisting fabric diagonally and wrapping it with a rope to create stripes. 

Kara Jubin, the designer behind up-and-coming indie label KkCo, prefers a more natural tie-dye method. “I have been really into a ‘watercolor’ finish lately, so I do a light twist, but tie and knot lightly so the colors could bleed into the knots and blend into each other.” So, too, does Taymour, who has an affinity for the more traditional spiral method. “You pinch the middle of a garment and spin it into a pizza shape,” she says. “From there, you rubber-band it into pizza slices and add any color you want in all the pizza wedges.” In addition to tie-dyeing, you can now add pizza-ordering to the night’s list of activities.

Step 4: Soak your rubber-banded garment in water to prepare it for dyeing

Before dyeing, it’s important to soak your garment in warm water to get the fibers ready to take in the dye. Sood suggests adding a little bit of soap and some synthrapol — a laundry soap designed specifically to be used before dyeing fabrics — to the warm water mixture. “If it’s a used garment rather than new, you’ll want to make sure it’s been thoroughly washed beforehand. The fibers need to be clean and rid of any other chemicals before dyeing,” she says. Jubin suggests a 20-minute soak.

Step 4: Put on gloves. Add your tie-dye to the desired area.

“I always get lazy and don’t wear gloves, so my hands constantly look radioactive,” says Tung. Noted! Once your gloves are on, start dipping your garment or pouring the dye mixture onto it. For darker shades, you can soak your garment in a bath of dye. The longer you let it soak, the darker your garment will become. 

Step 5: Wrap in cling wrap and let sit

Once you feel like your design is finished, take it out of the dye and wrap it in plastic wrap to keep the moisture locked in. As for how long to let it sit, it’s up to you. “I like to let my dyed pieces sit for 6 to 8 hours,” says Taymour, while Jubin suggests 12-plus hours. “24 hours is usually a sweet spot for me, but I’ve let some things sit for up to 48 hours before,” she says. “While tie-dyeing, I never have an empty cup,” Jubin jokes. “I’m currently drinking a Muller Thurgau from the Schmitt winery in Germany.”

Step 6: Rinse out until the water runs clear

Whether you chose to soak your design for 6 or 48 hours, once the buzzer buzzes, you need to then rinse out all of the dye using cold water. Take out the garment once the water runs clear.

Step 7: Wash (alone) on a cold cycle

The last step in the tie-dye process is to wash your newly technicolor garment in the washing machine using cold water. Important: wash it alone. Dyeing one item of clothing every color of the rainbow is one thing, dyeing an entire load is a whole other story. Jubin also recommends washing the garment while it’s still knotted. “This helps preserve any excess dye from bleeding into any tighter knots. I then unknot and wash again with cold water,” she says. 

Now it’s your turn. Grab a cocktail, switch on your favorite playlist, and get to work.

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This New Inclusively-Sized Designer Swim Collab Has The Cheeriest Prints

Some things just work better in pairs: if Ben didn’t have Jerry (and vice versa), for example, we wouldn’t have Chunky Monkey. Sometimes, these sorts of fortuitous partnerships pop up in the design world to give us a less literal taste of the magic that happens when two fashion brands join forces — and the latest sartorial union between travelwear brand Summersalt and high-energy designer label Tanya Taylor is one very good example.

“Summersalt has never partnered with a designer before, so in our first designer collaboration, it was imperative for us to work with someone that shared our brand values when it came to inclusivity, diversity, and design,” Summersalt co-founder and CEO Lori Coulter tells Refinery29. “We had long admired Tanya Taylor not only for her spectacular hand-painted prints, but also as a fellow female-run brand that has cultivated a successful business by making women of all sizes and backgrounds look and feel great.”

The result is the newly launched Brushstroke Collection marrying Summersalt’s signature data-backed fit with Taylor’s celebratory take on color and print (her motif for the collab even has “confetti” in its name). There are a total of six styles — five swimsuits and a breezy skirt — which pretty much feel like you’re wrapping yourself up in the beautiful, carefree goodness of summer itself. The one-pieces range from sizes 2 through 22, while the skirt is available in XS through 2X. Think: layers of vibrant patterns fastened with all the belts and ribbons a woman could desire in her swimwear with the required coverage and support to boot.

And even as we find ourselves tabling travel plans at the moment, unsure what the next steps into summer will even look like, each Summersalt x Tanya Taylor design offers a bright boost of stylishly good vibes that’ll work for the beach and beyond. Why not roll up to the park — at a safe distance from others, of course — in a skirt that practically begs you to twirl? Go ahead and journey out into the yard in a new bikini to soak up some (much-needed) vitamin D. Not even the fire escape is off-limits when it comes to debuting a fresh look in honor of the season.

“Summersalt has always been made for adventures big or small, from the slip and slide in the backyard to a bucket list trip,” says Reshma Chamberlin, Summersalt’s co-founder and Chief Brand and Digital Officer. “While this summer is poised to look different from summers’ past… we can’t wait to be a part of these new adventures in our swimwear.”

If it takes two to tango when it comes to successful design collaborations, it seems this fashionable pairing was destined to dance. So check out the entire fun yet functional Summersalt x Tanya Taylor collab below and consider investing in a timeless piece that’ll feel as good as it looks no matter what kind of adventure awaits.

At Refinery29, we’re here to help you navigate this overwhelming world of stuff. All of our market picks are independently selected and curated by the editorial team. All product details reflect the price and availability at the time of publication. If you buy something we link to on our site, Refinery29 may earn commission.

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Zara’s New Collection Is Packed With Summer’s Hottest Trends

Today, Zara launched its much-anticipated summer collection. Once again featuring models in places where they're quarantining, the Spanish brand's latest campaign is full of summer 2020's best trends.

While one model is shown wearing tropical prints and lazy-day summer dresses while out on a boat (lucky), another can be seen making homemade pasta in a cocoa-colored shirt dress; a third model wears a white linen frock against a wallpaper-like backdrop in a field. But it’s not just the dreamy campaign photos that have us clicking *Add To Cart.* Rather, it’s the clothes themselves that we’re most drawn to. 

Oversized straw hats, knit two-piece sets, airy blouses, printed dresses, and more — all of this season’s top trends are present in Zara’s new drop. Even better, the summer-ready selection also includes its fair share of strappy sandals, string bikinis, denim cutoffs, and throw-on-and-go slides, all of which are essential to a well-rounded summer wardrobe. 

So while it’s unlikely that we’ll be spending our summers as we normally would (i.e. vacationing on the beach and hosting group picnics in the park), there is one thing about summer that we can still count on this year: Zara’s summer collection. Click ahead to shop our favorite pieces from the season’s first drop. 

At Refinery29, we’re here to help you navigate this overwhelming world of stuff. All of our market picks are independently selected and curated by the editorial team. If you buy something we link to on our site, Refinery29 may earn commission.

Zara Voluminous Textured Weave Dress, $, available at Zara

Zara Woven Hat, $, available at Zara

Zara Floral Print Dress, $, available at Zara

Zara Heeled Soft Leather Square Toe Mules, $, available at Zara

Zara Printed Top, $, available at Zara

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Zara Leather High Heeled Sandals, $, available at Zara

Zara Voluminous Asymmetric Dress, $, available at Zara

Zara Voluminous Asymmetric Dress, $, available at Zara

Zara Woven Basket Bag, $, available at Zara

Zara Ribbed Bikini Top, $, available at Zara

Zara Long Tied Dress, $, available at Zara

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'अदा' की इस अदा पर फैंस हुए फ़िदा, एक्ट्रेस के ड्रेसिंग सेंस को देखकर निकला पसीना May 12, 2020 at 04:28AM

फिल्म ‘1920’ से अपनी खूबसूरती का डंका बजाने वाली बॉलीवुड एक्ट्रेस अदा शर्मा (Adah Sharma) आए दिन अपने अजीब से फैशन सेंस को लेकर सुर्खियों में बनी रहती हैं। अदा इस बात को अच्छे से जानती हैं कि कैसे अपने फैंस को खुश करना है, तभी तो अभिनेत्री अपने लुक्स के साथ जरा भी एक्सपेरिमेंट्स करने से नहीं कतरातीं। यही नहीं उनके ऑउटफिट्स के कलेक्शन को देखकर कुछ लोग उनकी तुलना बॉलीवुड एक्टर रणवीर सिंह से करने लगे हैं। ऐसे में आज हम आपको दिखा रहे हैं उनके कुछ ऐसे लुक्स, जिसे देखकर आप भी यही कहेंगे कि अदा ने क्या पहन लिया।

मिलिंद सोमन की पत्नी अंकिता स्पोर्टसवेअर ही नहीं, साड़ी और ड्रेसेस में भी लगती हैं कमाल May 12, 2020 at 04:08AM

मिलिंद सोमन और उनकी पत्नी अंकिता कुंवर अक्सर अपने पति के साथ रनिंग से लेकर अन्य वर्कआउट में साथ देती नजर आती हैं। इस वजह से उनकी ज्यादातर तस्वीरें भी स्पोर्ट्सवेअर में ही नजर आती हैं। हालांकि, यह खूबसूरत लेडी साड़ी से लेकर ड्रेसेस भी पहनना पसंद करती है और इन सभी में काफी सुंदर भी नजर आती हैं। अगर आपको यकीन न हो तो खुद ही इनकी तस्वीरें देख लीजिए।

काजोल की बहन तनीषा मुखर्जी ने महाराष्ट्रीयन मुलगी के लुक से लूटी वाहवाही May 12, 2020 at 03:11AM

ऐक्ट्रेस काजोल की बहन तनीषा मुखर्जी भले ही फिल्मी पर्दे से दूर हो, लेकिन वह सोशल मीडिया के जरिए जरूर ऐक्टिव होकर अपने फैन्स से जुड़ी रहती हैं। अपनी डेली लाइफ के साथ ही यह अदाकारा अपने फैशनेबल लुक्स भी सभी के साथ साझा करती है। हाल ही में उन्होंने देसी लुक में अपने फोटोज शेयर किए, जिन्हें फैन्स ने काफी पसंद किया।

आलिया से लेकर अनन्या तक, जब इन एक्ट्रेसेस ने सिखाया कैसे पहने गिंगम ड्रेसेस May 12, 2020 at 02:21AM

बॉलीवुड एक्ट्रेसेस जब भी कुछ नया पहनती हैं, वह देखते ही देखते तुरंत वायरल हो जाता है। न्यू पैटर्न की ड्रेसेस से लेकर उनके बूट तक उनकी हर चीज सबसे खास होती है। इस बात में कोई दो राय नहीं बॉलीवुड फिल्में और एक्ट्रेसेज़ हमेशा ट्रेंडसेटर रही हैं जो अपने लेटेस्ट ट्रेंड्स और स्टाइलिंग से फैंस को फैशन गोल्स देती आई हैं।