MATCHING COLOURS IN FASHION

Colours have natural associations that either strengthen or soften them. This is based on the color wheel - the graphic representation of the way colours are formed - and once you understand the color wheel, combining and matching colours into pleasing pairings becomes easy.

The Fashion Colour wheel

Primary colours
It is the fundamental color combination, generated by pure colours:

• red
• yellow
• blue

The beauty of the combination suggested an important primary palette to artists such as Piet Mondrian and Roy Liechtenstein.

Primary colours in this classic YSL

Secondary colours
The secondary colour combination associates the secondary colours

• orange
• green
• purple. 

It creates a feeling fresh and inspiring.

Secondary colours combinations

Complementary colours
This combination includes the choice of colours directly opposite:

• green / red
• blue / orange
• yellow / purple. 

These colours enhance each other, when viewed side by side, pro-ducing a vibrant optical sensation.

Complementary colours

Analogous colours
Three colours that are located adjacent to one another on the chromatic scale (including their tints and shades of shadow) are considered analogous. These colors create the pleasant effects of harmony.

Analogous colours

Contrasting colours
The combinations of contrasting colours have a strong and striking effect. To obtain a contrasting combination, you have to associate a color with the color that is to each side of its complementary (for example, blue with red or orange).

Contrasting colours