Every color trend has an underlying message if you know where to look, but none shouts “bow down” quite like purple. If it needed a tagline, it would be “Let them eat cake”—that famously controversial phrase attributed to Marie Antoinette, now shorthand for aristocratic irreverence. Historically, purple’s ties to nobility date back to ancient times, when the dye was prohibitively rare and expensive, instantly calling to mind coronation crowns and ermine-trimmed velvet robes.
The rich, regal purples showcased during the recent Fashion Month made one thing clear: “Eat the rich” is out, and aspirational opulence is in (at least on the runways). The sentiment was anything but subtle—think silks, satins, sequins, and furs that Elizabethan nobles would have worn, perhaps a siren song for wealth and prestige firmly linked to an elite luxury market and the shoppers with budgets for the new-season designer.
