The Power of Pink
It’s no secret that pink is a polarising colour. To some it’s seen as sweet, feminine and at times childish, but to others it’s a symbol of strength and endurance, having become internationally synonymous with the fight against breast cancer.
As a female-owned company, you’d be forgiven for thinking pink was deliberately chosen as our brand colour to give us the ‘edge’ in a male-dominated industry. However, when asked why they decided on what has affectionately become known as ‘edge pink’ amongst the team, Sarah and Hannah explained that contrary to belief, they were initially set on not being a pink brand, however chose the colour because it was visually the strongest…subsequently spending their first year referring to it as edge red! How we’ve turned a corner!
Our relationship with pink has always been complicated, perhaps more so than any other colour due to its connections to gender identity and its scientifically proven mood-altering abilities. No other colour provokes such a wide range of responses, so what’s so special about this complex and divisive ‘lighter shade of red?’
Pink for boys and blue for girls
Before American First Lady Mamie Eisenhower declared it her favourite colour in the 1950s, pink was actually more commonly worn by young boys. As late as 1918, the traditional colour stereotypes that we are familiar with today were in fact the exact opposite, with the trade publication Earnshaw’s Infants’ Department stating that:
“The generally accepted rule is pink for the boys, and blue for the girls. The reason is that pink, being a more decided and stronger colour, is more suitable for the boy, while blue, which is more delicate and dainty, is prettier for the girl.”
The reasoning for this is believed to be because pink is related to red, a colour historically seen as ‘aggressive’ due to its association with the military, which lead to it being perceived as more masculine. In 18th century France, both men and women wore pink, which was a fashionably ‘new’ colour at the time. Pastel colours were loved by the bourgeois society and their popularity soon spread to the rest of Europe. These light shades came to symbolise wealth and sophistication, due to the simple fact that lighter colours are more easily stained and so to have crisp, immaculate clothing made from expensive fabrics not only indicated that the wearer was wealthy, but that they lived a highly refined life.
In India pink has always been popular for both men and women, particularly in the north Indian state of Rajasthan. In 1956, then editor of Harper’s Bazaar Diana Vreeland observed that ‘pink is the navy blue of India.’ In Japan, pink relates more to men than it does to women, even though it’s worn by both genders, as the annual blooming of the pink-blossomed cherry trees is said to represent young Samurai warriors fallen in the prime of life. In Korea, it symbolises trust, and in Latin America, it’s symbolic to architecture. In China pink was only recently recognised as a colour, emerging into their culture due to increasing Western influences, with the Chinese word for pink translating as ‘foreign colour’. In some African countries, pink wedding outfits are a popular choice for both the bride and groom, symbolising ‘unity and partnership,’ which also fits the widespread notion of pink as a symbol of love.
Researchers believe that the gender-colour switch officially occurred after WW2, as a marketing strategy to sell more goods to consumers, casting doubt over the age-old debate as to whether boys inherently like blue and girls prefer pink, and so proving that the traditional gender colour ‘norms’ are culturally constructed and not biological preferences. According to a study by Gates Cambridge Scholar Jac Davis and published in the journal ‘Child Development’, children’s preference for pink or blue is a cultural phenomenon and girls do not have an innate preference for pink. Researchers found that there was no difference in colour preference among children aged four to 11 who lived in remote villages in the Peruvian Amazon, Vanuatu and the northern Republic of Congo. However, there was a marked preference for pink among girls in Brisbane, Australia who had been exposed to global cultural influences. Their findings also suggest that global cultural attitudes actually influenced boys to avoid pink.
Post WW2, pink was transformed into a symbol of hyper-femininity and given all the characteristics conventionally associated with women and young girls, such as innocence, romance, tenderness, affection, sweetness and safety. In the years following the war, the popular pale pinks of the 18th and 19th centuries continued to reign supreme, appearing in editorials, advertisements and female focused marketing campaigns aimed at teaching women how to become the perfect wife by instilling the values of conformity and femininity. The 1950s and 60s saw the rise of Technicolour films, whose heavy cameras and blazing hot lights meant audiences saw an intensified, stylised pink in studio-shot scenes. The pop art movement continued to bring brighter, vivacious shades to the forefront, with hot pink featuring heavily in the work of artists such as Andy Warhol. Celebrated women of the era such as Marilyn Monroe turned pink back into a symbol of luxury and fashion icon Jackie Kennedy, whose pink Chanel ensembles stood out against a sea of grey suits, turned pink into a symbol of strength and graciousness.
A colour in transition
In the 1970s, pink’s popularity plummeted due to a rising feminist backlash and the engineered ‘pink for girls, blue for boys’ stereotype. Valerie Steele, author of ‘Pink: The History of a Punk, Pretty Powerful Colour’ and director of the Museum at New York’s Fashion Institute of Technology points out that “society decides what colours mean, when that particular divide was made, it reinforced the perception of pink as frivolous because of its association with women, who have been traditionally looked down upon.” The 1980s and 90s saw a more rebellious attitude to pink, with punk bands such as The Ramones and The Clash turning it into something edgier and its popularity amongst hip-hop cultures proved that pink can once again be for everyone. The 2000’s have seen the rise of ‘millennial pink,’ a deep pink-beige shade predicted by the Colour Marketing Group in 2014 and named ‘Shim’ (a combination of ‘She’ and ‘Him’), which invaded all areas of popular culture in 2016. “Pink has always been a colour in transition, and so have social attitudes towards it. All colours have complications, but I do think that pink is one of the most controversial ones. It arouses very strong emotions, whether good or bad” says Steele. Had it not been used as a money-spinning marketing ploy in a post-war world, would pink be quite as divisive as it has been during the late 20th century?
These recent rapid changes to the meaning of pink have had the most impact on our perceptions of the colour. “Pink carries so many layers of meaning and has been used to turn connotations on their head in recent years” says Steele. The use of pink in design now stands for fearlessness, defiance, rebellion, and innovation. It no longer solely represents softness and fragility and has been embraced as a colour of protest and awareness. Using pink and using pink well, reveals a willingness to embrace wonder, creativity and the unconventional. It’s fair to say that we have fully embraced ‘edge pink,’ turning the assumption that it solely represents the team on its head, by instead showing that it’s actually a fundamental part of our values as a brand. To us it represents fun, energy and a desire to make our own rules.
Pink has been on quite a journey over the last 200 years, but its reputation as a colour associated purely with femininity is finally being challenged. In recent years, women have decided to reclaim it and use it to illustrate female empowerment. It has also been proven to be mentally stimulating, reduce violent behaviour and make people feel calmer and more controlled, which is why many prison holding cells are painted pink. This complex journey from a colour for all, to a symbol of wealth, to its delicate, ‘girly’ connotations of the 1950s and 60s, and finally to its current reputation as playful and forward-thinking shows that its adaptabilities and complexities have now become its greatest power.
Written by Sophie
