Pink is the red-carpet shade of the season

Sorry, football fans: London isn’t blue, red, white or claret. It’s traffic-stopping fuchsia. Or so an audit of the party circuit would confirm, with a dazzling shade of pink emerging as a plaything for those who like to make an entrance.

At the Fashion Awards last Monday it was impossible to scan the room without noting the pops of cerise and the accents of raspberry that stood out against a sea of black and navy.

Among its advocates is Natalie Massenet, who wore a fuchsia gown by Emilia Wickstead to attend the event, and the reverential Roksanda Ilincic, who offered a masterclass in presenting the hue with a gown from her own label.

They were joined by Poppy Delevingne, who opted for a muted incarnation of the colour and a dress by Prada. The divine Georgia May Jagger confirmed she had received the millennial pink memo with a Mulberry trouser suit along with a dye job in a matching hue.

Other advocates of the shade include Jennifer Lopez, who attended a premiere in New York sporting a oversized gown by Giambattista Valli, and Gemma Arterton, who has made the shade her party shade of choice.

Of course, pink as a contemporary fashion proposition is nothing new. Since 2014 and Wes Anderson’s pretty-picture Grand Budapest Hotel hit cinema screens, the shade has found itself transformed from out-of-date bath mat fodder to “on trend” prerequisite forin the interior designer of every bar, shop and household in London looking for style kudos.

In 2017, under-35s made the shade their own, with Pantone returning the favour to give millennial pink a position on its chart. This year, with Scarlett Curtis’s book Feminists Don’t Wear Pink (and Other Lies) stealing the headlines, the shade found itself at the centre of a conversation about women’s rights. And yet as we near the very last moments of 2018, it seems it’s the ubiquity of pink that is most interesting. Pink has shaken off its stereotypes to become, well, the new black.

To understand its broad-ranging appeal, take a look at your Instagram feed. This vibrant shade of pink photographs phenomenally well, creating a no-brainer hit for those looking to up their quota of likes. It also flatters a host of skin tones — which perhaps explains its current success with a broad age range of fans.

It helps that more and more designers have awoken to the idea of head-to-toe brights as a phenomena that works as well in winter as it does in summer. While scarlet and emerald green were once the go-to winter shades, shades of bubblegum and fuchsia have replaced them.

Key to wearing it well this party season is to go boldly — and with confidence. Instead of shying away from the shade, or diluting it with other shades, pink should be worn with pride.

The upshot?

Be more J Lo.