Neon notes

FASHION:Get ready to be a bright spark as fashion takes on a fluorescent hue, writes DEIRDRE McQUILLAN

NEON COMES FROM the Greek neos, meaning new and with newness, by definition, being the very essence of fashion, it comes as no surprise that the fluorescent colour spectrum of pinks, yellows, limes and oranges is livening up the current season. The extreme brightness and high visibility of these shades, familiar to work and sportswear, gives neutrals a great lift, a shaft of intensity that can do wonders for a spring look and certain skin tones.

A new exhibition in Paris called Neon: Who’s afraid of red yellow and blue? at La Maison Rouge celebrates neon’s centenary from its scientific invention in 1912, to a means of urban advertising, and as an artistic medium in its own right. With technological advances in fabrics that introduce light-emitting fibres, fashion designers have drawn widely from neon’s chromatic possibilities and iridescence for fresh takes on conservative shapes. Call them fluorescent, day-glo or luminous, these vivid colours have illuminated collections from Marni to J Crew this season and will filter into winter, given the impact of Vuitton’s light-reflecting tinsel tweeds.

Irish knitter Lucy Downes, showing in Paris last month, almost doubled her orders, particularly from US and Japanese buyers, for her range of grey knits sharpened up with strips of neon. “A little trim of fluorescent really accentuates the shape or highlights a pocket,” she says. “Orange goes well with oatmeal, beige and blonde, what I call tennis ball green goes with grey, while fluorescent pinks combine well with grey and khaki. You can play with these shades.”

Sunshine makes neon colours glow, but the way to wear them is never head-to-toe (too much voltage), but paired with neutrals, or more strikingly with black. Neon in pattern rather than solid colour is easier to wear in a skirt or jacket , for instance, while one layer of bright colour like a pink or lime tunic can enliven the darkest outfit. Neon accessories such as a thin belt with shoes or a bag of a similar shade can add high visibility, modernity and a bit of pizzazz to a black suit.