July 19, 2022

Colour Spotlight

MIX 61.01.08 Chanterelle

One year on, our creative agency Colour Hive, spotlight a colour from the previous season’s forecast in MIX Magazine.

Continuing the series, we’ll explore the historic and cultural relevance of Chanterelle yellow, and track early adopters in the design industry.

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Introducing…

Named after the almost luminous yellow of the Chanterelle mushroom, this is a colour that glows with optimism.

Yellow suffers from something of a reputational problem, all too often it's seen as the poor relation in the primary triangle. One possible reason may be its use as a signpost for danger and utility. Added to that, residual anecdotal links with anxiety and depression, despite lacking substantiation in scientific research, don’t help improve collective consumer perception.

However, recent events see a shift in our perception of yellow. Colour Hive has been tracking this development over the last few seasons and believe that yellow’s new popularity is an inevitable result of more time spent in nature.

Palettes reflect this driver; the story Custodian (SS 2022) is a robustly natural grouping of brown, green, and not one but two yellows. These colours work hard, bringing energy and intensity to the more grounded hues of the palette, and we have been posting more about Custodian over on our Instagram

In context...

Chanterelle is already proving a strong candidate for rehabilitation. With warm undertones, its robust egginess avoids associations with danger. It’s a colour that sits comfortably as a highlight with shades of pale orange and acid green, but also teams in chunkier proportions with soft tans and spruce greens.

Chanterelle even works surprisingly well alongside dark, arterial reds. And of course, it stands happily alone, especially in upholstery, as seen with Nor11’s take on the classic wing chair, called Mammoth.

Scandinavian designers are at home with forest palettes, so it’s no surprise to see this yellow pop up in collections across the board, particularly as it works so well with pale wood. Danish brand Hay loves a little brilliant yellow, seen here in the Mags sofa.

The colour also delivers across accessories; Serax has presented striking glass vases in Chanterelle, teamed with icy blue green.

Along with pale buttercup shades, Chanterelle has made a strong impact on recent season’s catwalks. This bodes well for a transition into smaller trend-led accessories like cushions and throws.

For those unsure about consumer readiness in embracing yellow, these smaller highlights of the colour are a good entry point. Again, Scandi firms have been ahead of the curve; Swedish company Klippan Yllefabrik has a striking woollen throw in this colour. Design House Stockholm’s classic Knot pillow comes in Chanterelle, as do velour pillows from Hay.

Away from Scandinavia, Urban Outfitters is also getting in on the act with a big cosy throw blanket with outsize fringing. In cushions, UK retailer John Lewis also features a wide selection in Chanterelle.

Our collective desire for a colour so bright and uplifting makes solid sense. As an ideal foil for natural greens and earth shades, Chanterelle brings a note of optimism and radiance and is a colour to celebrate new beginnings.

MIX Magazine is a quarterly print and digital publication by our creative agency, Colour Hive and is available as part of Colour Hive Membership.

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