French Coffee House Colors

In Louis Vuitton’s Ready to Wear Collection for Fall 2012, the colors resemble a coffee house in France. “French Coffee House” hues are rich and warm, just like you would expect from a French Baguette straight out of the oven.  Attempting to describe these tones makes me smell warm baguettes, chocolate croissants, crepes, macaroons, biscotti, and fruit tarts. Perhaps Marc Jacobs has a sweet tooth?

In the Fall 2012 collection, some of the main colors are beige, camel, pale rose, marigold yellow, dark roast, and grey;  or as I like to call them Light Roast, Sweet Crepes, Macaroon, Croissant, Dark Roast, and Earl Grey.  The accent colors are lavender, burgundy, mocha, and silver; or as I like to call them Lavender from Marseille, Cherry Pie, Brioche, Fine China. These colors are all names for coffees, teas, china, pastries, coffee house scents, or things France is known for.

 

 

Louis Vuitton Fall 2012 Ready to Wear is a collection that you have to look at all of the finer details. Every time I scan through this collection, I manage to find another color or detail. This collection has traditional fall shades, such as beige, chocolate brown, and gray. It also features unexpected tones; such as pale pink, marigold, and lavender. These tones to me are unexpected because I feel that fall is a ‘darker’ season.

Although I love Marc Jacob’s choice of hues, I have to add some new colors that Jacobs could have added to take the collection to take it the next level. The main colors of this collection are very similar. The beiges and browns are all in the same color family, just with a different shade or intensity. I spent a lot of time lining up new colors or shades of colors with hues already featured in the line. I tried to get a feeling of this “French Coffee House”, to see what worked and what did not work. One color that did not compliment this collection in the way it deserved is blue. I attempted different tints and shades of royal blue and navy blue and it just did not work.

Furthermore, the colors that just felt ‘right’ to me were dark burgundy, dim gray, light cream, eggplant, and olive green. I could see a model wearing a dark burgundy coat, or a dim gray dress, or having a porter carry her eggplant bag. I could also see these colors in France at a coffee house. They might be in the dessert case or on the fine china.

 



Coeur à la Crème

 

 

Blueberry Tart

 

Angelfood Cake

 

Kiwi Fruit Tart

Serving Spoon

Along with adding colors to this current collection, I also looked at what colors might be featured in the next collection, Spring 2013. I predict that Marc Jacobs will have some of the main hues used in Fall 2012. I feel that Jacobs will utilize Sweet Crepes, Croissant, and Macaroon. I don’t think they will be the exact shade, I feel that the colors will be tinted to have a lighter feeling. From the accent colors of Fall 2012, I think we will see Lavender from Marseille and Fine China again. I feel that both of these hues will stay the same. Lavender from Marseille is already a warm, spring tone and Fine China has a year round feeling to it.

Looking back to Louis Vuitton Spring 2012, the main color was white. The show also had navy blue, pale yellow, sky blue and peach. Marc Jacobs is one to do an entire 360 degrees in his collection, so I expect more colors then Spring 2012. Some hues I expect to see: Pale Rose, Marigold, Tangerine, Lavender, Teal Blue, and Mint Green.  Pale Rose, Marigold, and Lavender will be continues from Fall 2012. Tangerine, Teal, and Mint Green are bold and totally different from Spring 2012, which I think change is to be expected.

 

(Featured below: Pale Rose, Marigold, Tangerine, Lavender, Teal Blue, and Mint Green)