karenika - books

Mauve

MacLennan selects one of his colour brochures. 'It's not easy to say which colours are going to be the ones -- but it won't be that [pointing to yellow] because yellow is a terribly difficult colour to sell. But that lime-green and this orange thing is still going strong - that's three years it's been going. Over winter, consumers forget about these colours, forget that they enjoyed this colour on the beach, and so when spring comes round they find it charming again.'

In the winter of 1999, MacLennan detected a liking for a family of colours including purple and grape and blood-reds. The other trend over the last few years has been the growth of green. 'For the longest time people thought of green as German - oh we don't wear green, green is difficult and always a problem. But six years ago there was a change in people's perceptions. Blue took a bit of a back seat, coinciding with people deserting denim. The tones tend to go clearer and more acidic in the summer, and richer and heavier in the winter.

'Mauve will be forever associated with the seventies - Biba and all that. It enters the psyche in a sensual way, and is often perceived as decadent or forbidden. Doesn't suit everyone. People often buy it in error and then are alienated from it for good. In the family of purples, I always think of mauve as something lighter, greyer, softer than all its friends. Culturally it can be quite awkward globally. People in Japan won't wear it because they associate it exclusively with royalty. You can't use it as a fashion statement very easily over there. And there's that whole cardinal thing as well. When it does arrive, it comes and goes quite quickly. Mauve tends to swamp the things it comes into - if you add it to other colours it just tends to go mauve, rather than a gentle mix. I think it has a mythical feel. We're moving on to describe colours by smell, and I think mauve would be incense, probably patchouli oil or a smoky, holy, churchy smell.'

Sandy MacLennan is aware that 70 to 90 per cent of all sales are always black, all the year round. Followed by grey and navy. But he doesn't find this soul-destroying. For him, the key is to pick upon the things that are going to be the other 10 per cent.

'I think we're used by companies to give them an edge. There's too much fibre in the world, and therefore potentially too much fabric. There's too much product being made, and the choice for the consumer is so big. Even the slightest edge can make a big difference. The luxury garments - luxury wool or silk - will always sell itself, but how do you sell the crap? There is always going to be too much crap around, so the companies that sell it have got to be quite busy with their marketing and understanding of what people want. Years ago it was very different. In the nineteenth century, people made something and you sold it.'

I read about Mauve in the New York Times Book section. After several months of waiting for the library to get my copy, I finally got to read it a week or so ago. I must say it was certainly worth the wait. This little book is a fascinating account of the dye industry and the advancement of chemistry.