When it comes to Christmas, conventional wisdom holds that the most salable color story is red and green. I’m here to tell you that while this may be absolutely true for core products—the bestsellers you repeat with success year-after-year—nothing could be further from the truth when it comes to trend.
While it’s more than advisable to bring red into your trend assortment (the 20 – 35% of your offering that you should be reserving for newness and risk), and The Trend Curve is actually quite bullish about the future of green, I don’t advise that you use these two colors together.
Why would I make that recommendation?
The biggest reason is that red-and-green color stories are established basics. Feel free to use them with abandon in your core winter assortment.
But when the goal is to convey a trend message, basic color combinations just won’t do. Instead, break these powerhouse hues apart and then team them up with something else. Like red plus one of the emerging trend-right blues that is taking the market by storm. Or think about using cool, mid-tone green with crisp white for a new take on a natural palette. Both of these combinations are directional for 2021, and both debuted in a number of key collections at the Atlanta Gift Market and at Christmasworld.
These new duos will generate exactly the kind of excitement you need in your winter and Christmas trend assortments. Even better, they will create a gravitational pull that is the surest route to increased sales and profits.
To learn about other trends that are on my radar, check out my color-and-trend forecast ‘Tis The Season™ 2020-2021 in The Trend Curve‘s Trend Store. And don’t forget to follow me @trendcurve on Instagram.
