How To Pull Off Purple

Call it decades of Valentine’s Day-related conditioning, but when the brief is ‘romance’, you might be naturally inclined to head towards the pink and red end of the colour spectrum.

But there’s another colour – currently in vogue – that speaks the language of love just as well, without being quite as predictable: soft, crushed purple.

Youthful without being outrageous, playful without veering into childishness… there’s a reason that lilac is popping up everywhere, and why runways – from Victoria Beckham to Simone Rocha – are awash with it. Recently, “digital lavender” was even dubbed the colour of 2023 by trend forecaster WGSN.

It’s a sensorial shade that connects to holistic wellbeing and digital optimism.

“It’s a sensorial shade that connects to holistic wellbeing and digital optimism,” explained WGSN’s head of colour, Urangoo Samba, at the time. “This shade poses that much needed cautious optimism and escapism that people are craving post-pandemic and even in times of budget crunch, it is imaginative and creative but also speaks of hope and balance.”

Stylist Lucy Wood agrees. “Lilac is a very calming colour. It has a softness, a youthfulness and a tendency to feel very feminine.”

Lilac can add a delicate touch to a neutrals-based work wardrobe or inject an offbeat allure to a black dress in accessorial form (think a puffy purple clutch, or a pair of strappy lilac kitten heels).

Lilac is a very calming colour. It has a softness, a youthfulness and a tendency to feel very feminine.

Wood also has a tip for those who are afraid of looking too much like they’ve been rifling in their grandmothers’ wardrobes: “Stick to sharp silhouettes,” she says.

And the best part? Lilac is a colour that plays just as well in winter as in the warmer months. “The easiest way to style in some lilac for winter is with a great knit—there are lots of chunky styles, as well as button-up ribbed styles,” notes Wood. “That, or a great accent accessory like a bag or scarf.” See below for our edit of the best lilac picks this season.