Issue 39: Musings on Gen-Z Green
Issue 39: Musings on Gen-Z Green
🔮 TREND ALERT! 2021's REAL Color of the Year
From tennis courts to spring meadows to close-ups of fresh-made pesto to the rarest irises, I’ve been seeing green everywhere these past several weeks.
Every time I log on to Instagram or TikTok, I can count on at least one or two posts that revel in the beauty of green.
People still love taupe and gold, some (like me) will always love blue, but green is having a moment.
Don’t miss this week’s Long Read on the 2021 REAL Color of the Year.
Dear Reader, see you at a High Green Noon! 🌱
xSCREMES (Shawn)
The Roundup
Links to the stories you should be reading this week
The George Floyd protests, a year later. • Inside the government’s long, slow admission that after all, UFOs really might be real. • Why those with the most power encourage the privatization of politics. • The luscious garden of multi-faceted talent Jasper Conran teems in Dorset. • And, how Stüssy became the Chanel of streetwear.
The Long Read
The week’s keynote story
Only going to read one thing? Read me.
Color of the Year: Matcha | Shawn Cremer | High Noon Original
In 2000 Pantone laid claim to the annual naming of the Color of the Year, a supposed insight by the experts into the most on-trend color for interior decorating and fashion design. They began with the Miranda Priestly-approved cerulean. 2006’s Sand Dollar was ahead of the minimalism curve and 2010’s Turquoise certainly was prevalent in suburban bedrooms and prom dresses of the era, often accompanied by chocolate brown. Remember??
Designers and decorators paid the release attention, sure, but until 2016 the general public really couldn’t care less. It all changed when along came the first duo of colors Pantone had ever named with Rose Quartz and Serenity in 2016. Don’t remember Serenity? Nope, neither does anyone else. (It was blue.) Rose Quartz not really ringing any bells either? That’s because it was swiftly rebranded by every outlet that could find an angle into Millennial Pink.
Millennial Pink became everything. Its pale rose hue graced the living rooms of every Millennial influencer and the common rooms of women’s clubs and the branding and package design of dozens of emerging e-comm brands.
Pantone, perhaps realizing that one of their two picks for the 2016 COTY had been completely sidelined by the other, went back to just selecting a single annual color… until this year that is.
According to Pantone, the official 2021 Colors of the Year are ‘Ultimate Gray’ and ‘Illuminating,’ because they “express a message of positivity supported by fortitude.”
WRONG!!!!!
Not only is it a dismal thought to imagine everyone decorating using these two unimaginative colors, but also they simply are so far out of the zeitgeist it’s laughable. Absolutely no one is thinking about gray and yellow. Get real! Allow me to present to you the true 2021 Color of the Year…
Matcha!
A gentle, creamy green, Matcha — which may also come to be called Gen-Z Green — and its sub-shades are endemic of a Gen-Z-driven aesthetic of soft and sweet luxury that has emerged out of last year’s Cottagecore obsession. The Cottagecore aesthetic has been modified and modernized into one that retains the lovely fantasy, appreciation of gardens and nature, and gauzy softly-lit etherealism, while also adding in a modern youthful energy, a bright springy feeling full of hope and joy.
And brands and designers are instinctively catching on.
We’re going to be seeing Matcha often styled with taupes, creams, and bones, but also true browns and accompanying pastels. Matcha goes well with the current resurgence in the popularity of pearls and our obsession with ‘80s tennis culture.
An oversized Matcha green working shirt paired with pale shorts would look great with some beat-up Le Coq Sportif trainers. I see Matcha-painted walls appearing in cafés and pale green tiles gracing the bathrooms of cute restaurants and hotels. However it shows up, mark my words, 2021 is the beginning of the reign of Matcha!
Watch
In case you missed it like me, the Schiap FW21 Ready-To-Wear collection is insane and so full of decadence and camp. Catch me trotting around the city with one of those phone cases this summer!
Cheers
Sometimes, we want to order a second cocktail, but it would feel a bit too much. May I suggest opting for a Bamboo, a simple, clean-on-the palette, low-ABV, cocktail with an astounding edge of flair?
The Bamboo
1.5 oz. Fino Sherry
1.5 oz. Dry Vermouth
2-3 Dashes Angostura Bitters
Shake, strain into a chilled coupe, and express a wide zest of lemon or orange over the glass.
