Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week: The Colors and Trends of Fall 2012

COMMENTARY | Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week - also known as New York Fashion Week - got off to a fantastic start on Feb. 9, with shows from Nicholas K, Tadashi Shoji, Cynthia Rowley, and my personal favorite, BCBGMAXAZRIA. The purpose of Fashion Week is to showcase the designers' ready-to-wear clothing lines for the upcoming fall/winter season. With that said, you can usually expect to see a lot of neutrals, darker, more saturated colors, sweaters, trench coats, and lots of texture. With one day under wraps, this year looks to be no different. Well, for the most part...

Back in December, Pantone Color Institute announced that "Tangerine Tango" is the color of 2012. As you can imagine, Tangerine Tango is a saturated reddish-orange hue that nearly immediately began popping up in spring collections in stores across the country. The color will still be around come fall, and it's bringing with it some usually-too-bright-for-fall colors that have been popular this spring, just in a little darker shades. The other "it" colors this fall - again according to Pantone - are French Roast (think coffee), Honey Gold, Pink Flambe (dark pink), Ultramarine Green (teal, if you will), Rose Smoke, Bright Chartreuse, Rhapsody (a dark-but-pastel purple), Titanium, and Olympian Blue (bright blue).

After one day of shows, Pantone seems to be on track, especially in BCBG's new line. The BCBGMAXAZRIA show featured a lot of color blocking, which has also been extremely popular lately. Azria paired the color blocking trend with some of the "it" colors (at least close to them) including Ultramarine Green, Olympian Blue, and a somewhat-subdued Tangerine Tango. Bright colors are a HUGE trend this spring, so it's kind of refreshing to see them popping up in a usually dark Earth-tone riddled clothing season.

The best part about the brighter colors that are on trend this fall? You can already pick up a lot of pieces that are on trend now that will transition nicely into fall! Staple pieces like tanks and T-shirts and even accessories can be found in these great colors, and at a wide variety of price points, so basically everyone can pick up items now that will carry them right from spring to fall.

The other trends that seem to be coming for us this fall are pretty typical, including velvet, trench coats, and neutrals. Lace seems to be sticking around, though, and has been seen mixed with thicker, more fall-like velvet for a nice feminine touch. Silk also looks to be hot this fall, keeping with the super-feminine trend - especially when done in pretty floral prints. With seven days of shows left, and huge names like Ralph Lauren, Calvin Klein, and Carolina Herrera still to showcase their designs, the big trends could still change!