For the content analysis on this trend I looked to the men’s fashion bible, Gentleman’s Quarterly, searching through the issues from August to December. As I mentioned in my initial prediction, I do believe that the gray-on-gray trend is in the introduction stage and the frequency of mentions in each month’s GQ indicates that to be true. In the August issue there are no mentions of gray-on-gray whether in editorials or in advertisements. September sees a “giant” spike relatively speaking as we see gray-on-gray advertisements from Louis Vuitton, Corneliani, Givenchy, and Georgio Armani. We also see two editorials, albeit brief, on mixing shades of gray with your suit and your ties while they stress contrasting shades as the key to conquering the gray-on-gray trend successfully. The October issue sees a drop in gray-on-gray with only two advertisements from Carlo Pazolini and Bottega Veneta and one editorial on Thom Browne’s “uniform” of the gray suit which for him usually consists of a lighter charcoal gray blazer on top which darker charcoal gray pants on the bottom. November’s GQ is essentially a carbon copy of October where we find two advertisements from Louis Vuitton and Calvin Klein, and one editorial on down vests where they have paired gray sweats with gray sneakers. Lastly in December there is only one appearance of gray-on-gray in a Banana Republic advertisement.
It’s interesting to note that the frequency of gray-on-gray mentions spikes during the fall months as men stock up on various wool accessories such as ties and pocket squares and styles such as flannel suits, but it begins to fall off as you get further into winter and the advertisements and editorials start to shift a little more towards spring colors. This leads me to believe that the gray-on-gray trend might have a hard time holding on during the warmer months of the year. Also, it is clear that this trend is in the early stages of the fashion cycle as indicated by the advertisements. The only time gray-on-gray was advertised during the analysis was by high end fashion designers until December rolled around and I found one advertisement by a retail fashion store in Banana Republic. This could prove to be the stepping-stone that is needed for the gray-on-gray trend to transcend high fashion and reach mass fashion.
Photo Credit:http://models.com/Work/louis-vuitton-lous-vuitton-fw-13-mens-campaign
