The Greening World: What’s Haute – Fifty Shades of Green Trend Autumn/Winter 2014-15

It has been said that green is the colour of balance; a mixture of blue and yellow, green is simultaneously warm and cool - active and restive. The color of nature and the forest, it evokes primordial feelings of harmony. For Autumn/Winter 2014-2015 green was resplendent on the runways in mossy verdant shades, bringing an earthy and natural sense of glamour to the catwalks of New York, London, Milan and Paris.

Khaki, a green with a dull yellowish-brown cast is a perennial favorite on catwalks. The color of military uniforms, it connotes discipline, professionalism and toughness. This season at brands as diverse as Calvin Klein, Celine, Acne Studios, Guy Laroche and Vivienne Westwood it was used as the ultimate colour for knitwear and practical sportswear pieces, both teamed with other patterns and as an all over color block. Olivier Rousteing’s collection for Balmain was notable for its strong militaristic aesthetic with khaki the dominant tone. His models wore elegant pocketed cargo trousers, gabardine jackets with technical drawstrings and military regalia detailing resembling a fashion forward private army ready to take the streets.

Jean Paul Gaultier drew on the spectral and futuristic qualities of the colour for his ready to wear Autumn/Winter 2014 with every piece cast in variety of green hues. The science fiction themed presentation, backlit by a neon green light resembling a space ship landing, channelled the institutional atmosphere of uniforms warped through the designer’s near future lens. At Opening Ceremony it was not the uniform or militaristic impulse that was the order of the day but rather the richness and romantic suggestion aroused by the color, with zipped up knits and jackets in deep and leafy greens. Similarly at Gucci, Valentino, Rodarte and Donna Karan the color comes in earthy woodland tones to evoke a sense of extreme femininity. The season was a reminder of malleability of the color and its ability to impart new divergent atmospheres into the modern woman's wardrobe.