Unbound by tradition. Soft, with an edge. Subtle but strong. The next generation of neutrals has arrived, and Le Creuset’s newest colour, Shallot, leads them all. A whisper of colour that hovers between pink and purple, a lavender with a touch of grey—Shallot is too beautifully complex to be typically classified. The chameleon-like colour demonstrates the changing definition of “neutral.”
Neutral was once understood to mean beige, tan or gray, but the boundaries have gradually widened to include all manner of colors, each with their own undertones, saturation and temperature. As a result, the neutrals of today are more nuanced, more interesting and more beloved than ever.
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Out with the Old, In with the New
In the past, neutral colours could be considered the easy way out, the “safe” choice. Today, the rapidly growing category of neutrals is too sophisticated and varied to ever write off as merely the default option. Nonetheless, the dizzying array of neutral choices hasn’t hindered their ascendance. So, what explains their powerful appeal? We’ve gained a new understanding of the relationship between colour and light. Neutrals have become a very sophisticated choice that is often enhanced by the lighting in a room as it changes through the day. This is true for the lightest neutrals that give a hint of colour to the walls to the deepest hues, where direct light cast on a surface will reveal a subtle touch of colour.
Neutrals have also grown in popularity because they make a perfect background for expressing individuality and personality. The contents of a home—and a kitchen—are all helping to tell the story of a person’s life. An appealing neutral colour allows these individual elements to truly stand out. By the same token, the desire for unique self-expression has brought new, nontraditional colours into the “neutral” category, from a deep chocolate brown to pale ballet pink. These are neutrals with something to say. They may be subtle, but their impact—in the background and in dialogue with other colours—is undeniable.
Subtleties and Sophistication
Shallot, Le Creuset’s latest colour, proves just how versatile and appealing these next-generation neutrals can be in a wide range of homes and palettes. With its nuanced undertones, Shallot can make a powerful design impact in almost any room, from the kitchen to the bedroom to the dining room. The fun of working with a varied neutral like Shallot is playing with colour pairings to bring out different undertones and subtleties, changing the whole effect.
Complex and affirming, the next generation of neutrals offers the reassurance of a flexible foundation that can be tweaked to stay relevant as styles change. It’s easy to change a home’s look by simply adding new textiles and accents in colour pairings that pick up different undertones or showcase new subtleties of the colour. Try adding Shallot to your existing Le Creuset palette and see what new world of undertones and complements opens up to you.
