Pantone’s colour of the year, ‘Viva Magenta’s organic origin is the Cochineal beetle, an insect that helps in producing the carmine dye. Balancing warm and cool shades, 2023’s colour of the year descends from the family of reds and is an amalgamation of shades like deep pinkish-red, purplish-red and a subtle crimson red or as Pantone calls it, an “animated red”. The shade exudes a powerful sense of optimism and represents qualities that put together a dynamic personality like bravery, fearlessness, joy, strength, grace, energy, enthusiasm, and encourages self-expression and experimentation. At the same time, it has a fun and cheerful vibe to it.
Bringing together various silhouette styles, The Telegraph created a lookbook to show how to incorporate this cheery and optimistic shade in your wardrobe despite having different style sensibilities. Our muse, actress Koushani Mukherjee, who bears a cheerful disposition and exhibits resilience and resolve, sported them all and engaged in a post-shoot chat with us to talk about her brave and bold moves and the year ahead:
What is your new year’s resolution this year?
My new year’s resolution is just to stay healthy and fit.
Do you stick to your resolutions?
Depends on the kind of resolution I’m making. But few are meant to be broken!
How would you like to define your style statement for this year?
This year, my style statement will be comfortable and classy because I am a person who likes her comfort wear and daily wear. But I also always keep trying different looks and this year too I would like to experiment with myself.
Embodying the cheerful and fun vibe that the colour Viva Magenta stands for, the frilled outfit from ReNao by Anshika Lakhmani is all about the dramatic look and feel. The easy-breezy double georgette pant is paired with a silk strappy top detailed with a trail.
One thing that you wish to discard from your wardrobe this year...
Nothing specific as such but there are some old outfits which I would like to discard since I love keeping up with ongoing trends.
One thing you wish to add to your wardrobe this year...
I would like to add more of gowns to my wardrobe this year as it is a great occasion wear and is a chic style to sport.
In this fusion outfit from Studio Radical, Koushani exudes a bold and beautiful vibe pairing a V-neck crop top and crepe flared pants with a textured and pleated silk peplum jacket with tone-on-tone beadwork.
Viva Magenta is all about being brave, fearless and bold. What is the bravest or boldest decision you have taken in your life so far that you are proud of?
I have taken a lot of brave decisions throughout my journey professionally. Despite facing a lot of obstacles on my way to success and despite being stopped many times, I have taken bold decisions that I don’t regret and proudly own them as they make me who I am today. Making a place for oneself in the glamour world being a woman is quite a challenge. Choosing the right films and dealing with tough situations require a lot of bold moves and I have had to make mine throughout my journey. Also, to not stop after losing my mother and keep going while facing various hurdles in everyday life has been brave on my part, too.
Viva Magenta is also about feeling optimistic. What are you feeling most optimistic about this year?
I am most optimistic about taking some good roles this year and also taking my production house BK Entertainment to great heights with its first release that will happen soon.
Smart with a hint of subtle glam, the shimmery spandex weave jumpsuit from ReNao by Anshika Lakhmani is all about channelling effortless confidence that the colour Viva Magenta stands for.
Stylist speak
“Playing around with Pantone’s colour of the year through different silhouettes for this shoot has been a thrilling experience. I chose sharp and easy silhouettes as this shade is dynamic and can be switched from a simple day look to a striking evening glam look. The best part of this shade is it complements all skin tones. For accessories, I chose statement and bold pieces highlighting the glam quotient,” said Sumit Sinha, stylist.
Hair and make-up notes
“For the eyes and lips, we have played around with shades of nude, purple and crimson. For the eye make-up, we mostly tried smudged eyeshadow and kohl eyes. We have tried different hairstyles for each look, including beach waves, side-parted fringes with pony and bun,” said Babusona Saha and Gini Halder.