Think pink: re-embrace this fun shade this season

Pink’s got a pretty poor reputation. Following recent campaigns against gender stereotyping such as Pinkstinks, it’s become emblematic of all that’s wrong with traditional ideas of femininity and the way we raise girls. That’s a lot of bad vibes to heap on a simple colour.

But fashion rarely sweats the sensitive stuff anyway. So the proliferation of pink on the summer catwalks and its continuation as a trend for autumn is unlikely to have been sparked by any cultural analysis of gender issues – except for a few obvious exceptions. The Moschino summer collection was inspired by Barbie, and the range of bubblegum bikinis, tracksuits and balldresses really was every feminist’s worst nightmare. The label’s designer, Jeremy Scott, loves thumbing his nose at fashion and culture, and personally I find it hard not to smile at his provocation. At the other end of the scale, Prada’s autumn show also featured a lot of pink. This collection was a meditation on whether manufactured beauty lacks the validity of natural beauty. A subject that Barbie may well have an opinion on.

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The rest of the shows just featured a lot of lovely pink because, well, if you’re not three and having your world view warped, it’s actually a nice colour. Pink doesn’t have to stink. In the summer shows there were sophisticated shades of flesh and salmon at Dolce & Gabbana, Giles and Agnès b, as well as pretty rose colours at Victoria Beckham, Burberry and Roksanda. For autumn there was lots of pastel and nude (look to Chanel or Alexander McQueen for inspiration).

This colour carryover means that if you’re clever with the sales you can pick up bargains that will look totally new season. Always a satisfying achievement.

There are some great pale-pink shoes in the sales, but the best styles to seek out for autumn are chunky loafers and Mary Janes. Look up Finnish shoe designerMinna Parikka. Her label’s suddenly all trendy because Taylor Swift and Cara Delevingne are wearing her bunny-ear footwear, and her loafers are pretty cute.

Etre Cecile is always good for fun basics and the brand also has some great sweatshirts, tees and jumpers in the sale. Iris is a small chain of fashion boutiques that has a nice own-label range. On the website there are some lovely raspberry silk dresses and skirts at extremely reasonable prices.

If you can’t wait for the new seaon, the high street can do you pink at the right price. Gap has great jumpers, shoes and silk-cotton-mix shirts, Cos weaves its usual colour magic with a range of tops and dresses in an unusual, edgy pastel shade, and & Other Stories has some really on-trend loafers with a metal detail. Get used to rivets and eyelets – they’re going to be on everything from bags to dresses this autumn.

Give pink a chance. Don’t waste it on the kids – save it all for yourself.

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