Finding color inspiration in men’s spring fashion

I am one of the lucky few that actually has very little trouble finding inspiration. Almost any visual object can get my creative cogs grinding, from a corkboard filled with colorful bulletins to the warm light cast by the sun as it sinks towards the horizon.

One of my favorite hunting grounds for inspiration is the catwalk — that long runway where the art of some of the best designers in the world is put on display, hanging not on walls but on bodies. And, of course, one of my favorite things to do with such a great source of inspiration is to extract beautiful color schemes that can be applied elsewhere, for example in a website design or the tint of a photograph.

I dug through the Spring 2007 menswear collections at men.style.com and found some great color inspiration in the outfits of five well-known fashion designers. Enjoy.

Gucci

I pulled out the sandy colors of the belt and pants, then combined them with the ocean blues of the shirt. The dark color of the sandals brings it all together, allowing the other colors to “pop.”

Missoni

Missoni is always an incredible source of color inspiration, endowing many of its pieces with highly original color combinations and complex patterns. I chose this one because it possesses both, inspiring this unique color scheme.

Jean Paul Gaultier

One can always count on Gaultier to push the limits, not just in the structure of his designs, but in their color as well. I used this outfit to inspire a fun, young, faded look that could work anywhere from a corporate website to a personal blog.

Lacoste

Lacoste’s frequent use of bold, vibrant colors makes it a valuable reference for discovering new color schemes. I was immediately drawn to the purple of this jacket and the blue of the shoes, which, combined, would look great complemented by a pale gray and set against stark white. The green, an allusion to the famous Lacoste gator, adds an extra punch to this palette.

DSQUARED2

I was instantly drawn to this outfit by the trendy brothers behind DSQUARED2. It’s classically stylish and modernly sophisticated, boasting a very polished color scheme that is probably my favorite of the bunch.