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Rose quartz – the two words you've been searching for without even knowing it. If you spend any time of the internet, which we're going to take for granted that you do, you'll have been aware of a very particular shade of pink seeping through onto almost every social media platform.
From coloramas in fashion editorials, to ACNE Studios packaging, and bathroom tiles, via Glossier's Instagram, plant pots, Drake's "Hot Line Bling" video and WAH Nails' polish shades, rose quartz is now dominating consumer markets and designer forums, Tumblrs and campaigns. It is, quite literally, everywhere you look.
Last week Fashionista ran an entire piece devoted to dissecting the ubiquity in the commercial and creative industries of rose quartz, asking why it has risen to prominence, and more pertinently, why now.
Really, we should've known that it was coming, because of course we all follow Pantone's (as in the colour chart magnates) every news announcement online, with frenzied fervour – or not. But what is important to know is that Pantone do trend forecast colours and if you're half interested in aesthetics, it's actually a very interesting anthropological and social insight into our current cultural trends. This year they announced rose quartz (this very peachy, muted pink) and "serenity" (a cool pastel blue) as their colours of 2016, stating: "The prevalent combination of Rose Quartz and Serenity also challenges traditional perceptions of colour association."
"In many parts of the world we are experiencing a gender blur as it relates to fashion, which has in turn impacted colour trends throughout all other areas of design. This more unilateral approach to colour is coinciding with societal movements toward gender equality and fluidity, the consumer's increased comfort with using colour as a form of expression, a generation that has less concern about being typecast or judged and an open exchange of digital information that has opened our eyes to different approaches to colour usage."
Fashionista spoke to Mark Woodman, an internationally renowned colour trend expert (brilliant) who believed the penchant for rose quartz ran deeper than eye-pleasing proliferations of a soft pink shade that lends itself nicely to packaging. "Lightness, sheerness, layering of these soft grays and off-whites — it's a reaction to the endless stress, screaming politicians, and technology," said Woodman.
It seems we're all looking for some respite in this noisy and turbulent time and Tumblr's favourite shade, rose quartz, might just be the ticket. So, relax, take a deep breathe and browse our selection of the web's prettiest-in-quartz-pink items for your delectation.
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