Neutral Territory

It’s the colour of quiet resistance and part of every minimalist’s uniform. The designers who work with it and the women who take refuge in it illustrate why beige is ingrained in the Indian way of life.

- Akanksha Kamath

As a designer’s unbleached kora or a painter’s blank canvas, beige posits itself as a starting point, a figurative ground zero.

For the colour to make a heavy-handed comeback in the realm of fashion speaks volumes. It’s a whole nude world and the immediate questions that come to mind are: is this an antithesis to neon-trimmed athleisure? Are Philophiles world over craving the iconic Old-Céline look of head-to-toe neutrals? Could this be the return of normcore 2.0? Or does beige, in the age of oversharing and fake news, stand for #nofilter and a return to simplicity?

Colour can concisely translate the mood of a season (or even a generation!). The year 2017 reflected a twentysomething’s rose-tinted world view, thanks to millennial pink, 2018 belonged to Gen Z yellow and 2019 is quickly turning out to be the year of 50 shades of beige. Layered looks of fawn, sand, tan, egg-shell, ivory, camel, caramel, coffee… you get the drift.

“This pared-back put-together aesthetic points to a shift in priorities. We are spending more on experiences, travel, beauty, lifestyle. People would rather buy less but buy higher-quality timeless pieces,” explains Sara Maggioni, head of womenswear at trend forecaster WGSN. Or perhaps, as a way to combat click-bait fashion (Instagram-worthy neon Crocs and skin-tight cycling shorts), beige serves as “a palate cleanser when fashion is drowning in neon and streetwear,” says Marina Larroude, fashion director of luxury department store Barneys New York. “It’s only natural that we evolve and give customers another reason to shop and invest in something new. Only this time, make it head-to-toe so after the trend passes she can still break it down and mix it into her regular wardrobe.”