Did you ever wonder why when a new season is ushered in, many designer collections from the runways of New York, Paris, and Milan, seem to reflect similar design themes or sources of inspiration? Whether it's a certain color palette or trend such as nautical looks, military style, or vintage, Apparel Search recognizes that the same styles seem to appear in countless collections across the globe.

When setting out to design a collection for an upcoming season, designers look to trend and color experts for creative direction and inspiration. There are several key color sources, which include renowned color authority Pantone, which is widely used worldwide. Pantone offers specific tools that assist designers with the color selection process. Its Pantone View Colour System, which is a biannual trend forecasting tool, offers seasonal color direction and inspiration 24 months before a particular collection will debut. It reports on the upcoming trends, which will eventually hit menswear, women's wear, activewear, cosmetics, and industrial design.

Pantone also offers its Pantone Fashion + Home Color System, which is used in the apparel, home furnishings, and interior design industries. It consists of 1,925 colors that enable designers to experiment with different palettes and color schemes. Also, the styles, colors, and trends we see strutting down the fashion runways are often an indication of what will eventually impact the home market—everything from furniture to home accessories.

Of course, style remains a key driver when making purchasing decisions, but color also plays a vital role. "The power that color wields is seen at every level of communication: in corporate identification, packaging, signage, advertising on television, billboards, in print media, on the computer, at point of purchase and in the product itself," says Leatrice Eiseman. "Color is often called the 'silent salesperson,' and in many cases must immediately create a brand identity and most importantly, help to make the sale. At the very least (as on a web page or in a print ad) it must create enough interest or curiosity to induce the would-be buyer to find out more about the product or service."

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