This story is part of Ensemble’s colour week, presented by Resene.

For many, bold colour is a way of life. Whether through fashion or makeup, interiors or art, vibrant colour is fun and expressive - and a way to stand out from the crowd. With that in mind, we wanted to talk to some stylish people who have embraced the whimsy of vibrant brights, to see how they incorporate it into their worlds.‍

TANYA BARLOW

Tell me about your relationship with colour, and how that has changed over the years?

My relationship with colour is pretty symbiotic these days! I'm thinking about colour almost constantly, from nail colour combos, to the lottery of cutting an avocado open. Coffee, toast, hair toner. I definitely used to shun bright colours, particularly wearing them. I wore black exclusively for years. It was a ~dark~ time lol.

What’s your favourite colour?

Pink. Green. Orange? Brown? A combination of all of them? I think it might have to be pink. It feels like reclamation. I used to hate pink with a passion (because it was "girly"?? and I used to be goth), and now it feels like quiet power. 

I've also been jamming a ‘70s palette: I can't get enough of a juicy warm toned orange with brown and yellows. Yum. I also love a good bogey yellowy green. Yeah sorry I can't pick a favourite, ha!

Do you tend to be drawn to specific colours for specific areas of your life - say for fashion, makeup, interiors, or art?

For fashion, primary colours give me so much joy. A clown aesthetic will always make me happy. Makeup - I love warm orangey browns around the eye, and a cool plummy lip. Interiors… pink! Green! And for art, pink, red, pale blue, lime green, lavender, orange.

Does that love of colour translate into ‘real life’ - do you wear lots of colour yourself, or incorporate it into your home?

Absolutely. I change my nails every 5-6 weeks or so, and it's different colours and designs every time. My water bottle is bright orange, my phone case is yellow, my pillowcases are pink, and my duvet covers are green. 

I hadn't thought about how much I incorporated colour into my life until this question! It's a little bit of joy in everyday things, right? I've even found colourful KN95 masks because they make me happy.

You have incredible style that often incorporates colour (and print). How would you describe your style - and your approach to wearing colour?

I used to never wear colour. Black or nothing - maybe a *navy* if I was feeling fancy. And I used to wear cardigans, kimonos, boleros, scarves, leggings, absolutely in an attempt to cover up every part of my body? Take up less space, blend into the background, and dear god, please do not perceive me.

It's taken a lot of compassion, learning and unlearning to get to this point, where I absolutely and irrevocably love my body as it is, right now. So why spend my time hiding away, when I can lean into the sparkle. 

My approach to wearing colour is making up for the time I spent in the dark. What would teenage Tanya absolutely die to wear? Uhhh swirly orange flares, that's what! I think I would describe my style as joyful, now. Powerful. Badass. Comfy. I like having bright coloured statement pieces that play well or clash together. It's fun!

When it comes to fashion and homewares, are there any brands or designers that you think approach their use of colour especially well?

I think I've mentioned Fashion Brand Company every time I've been asked about brands, but they can do no wrong. Everything is approached with a sense of humour and an absolute love of colour. I'm also a huge fan of Gentle Thrills - it's all neon greens and pinks, and makes me very happy. 

Colour is a big part of your mahi, when it comes to nail art and makeup too. What shades do you see people being drawn to at the moment?

I'm definitely not alone on this ‘70s kick - lots of brown/orange/pink. Also, Bottega green continues to be popular. Lots of iridescent lavender, too.

What would be your advice for someone wanting to incorporate more colour into their makeup routine?

Start with one solid eyeshadow colour. Especially if you feel overwhelmed by choice! Take a fluffy eyeshadow brush and with an extremely light touch, try doing a wash of colour over the lid. The denser the brush, the more product gets placed- take a pencil brush and sweep it into the crease, and take it under the lower lashline too. Try this with a lavender, rusty brown, light blue, pink.

Google some complimentary colours for your eyes, and go from there. You've got this! Also, coloured liquid eyeliners are an easy and slightly more controlled way of trying out colour, too. 

Your interiors are so good too. How do you bring vibrant colour into your home? 

Opshops are wonderful for finding colourful treasures for your home. I happen to live with a very talented production designer who sources fab things from opshops constantly, so I'm definitely reaping the benefits. The frosted coloured glass vases, are you kidding! 

Also, I commissioned this incredible rug from Olivia Edginton, featuring all my favourite things. Whenever I travel, I like to hunt for special things for the house - a prized possession is a rusty red/pistachio/mustard/cream table runner from Arizona.

SITA NARSAI

Tell me about your relationship with colour, and how that has changed over the years?

I have always had an instinctual relationship with it. It’s definitely not something I learnt at school (I think I nearly failed colour theory at university) but rather something that’s grown with me and has been shaped by my childhood, community and culture. 

I take for granted that as a designer I work with colour every day, making choices that best communicate an idea in the clearest and most coherent way.

What’s your favourite colour?

My usual answer is blue. Those who know me would say lilac. But, having over-analysed my surroundings for these questions, I probably need to amend it to pink. There is a lot of it…

Do you tend to be drawn to specific colours for specific areas of your life - say for fashion, makeup, interiors, or art?

I’m really drawn to happenstance and chance encounters when it comes to colours. It’s the unexpectedness and serendipity of it all. I do have a tendency to lean towards colours and combinations that are delicate and playful. 

I own a few pieces of artwork by Theresa Waugh and they’re predominantly purple, pink and green. I also recently bought a big old wooden sign in fluro yellow on one side and fluro orange on the other, simply because the hand painted type was extremely fun - there’s a flower for the ‘o’! None of these “go together” in a traditional sense, but I see them together in the same space and they just work.

Your Instagram is a delightful riot of colour, sharing images that span art, fashion, landscapes, typography and more. How do you approach that, and is that embrace of colour deliberate?

There’s definitely no method or plan for the account. It’s really just a space for me to document and share what I’ve seen lately that I like and that inspires me. 

My focus is on the New Zealand creative scene and more specifically Auckland. But, I put just as much emphasis on random marker-pen doodles, flowers for sale outside a dairy, road markings or peeling layers of paint as I do on an artist’s or designer’s work that has really resonated.

Are there specific artists - local and international - that you think have a particularly interesting use of vibrant colour in their work?

Designers Beci Orpin, Alice Oher, and Erin Jang all use it boldly and joyfully in their work, I’ve been following their careers for years. 

Any interior by India Madhavi is a rich, luscious and sometimes velvet dream. Marimekko and Hay do timeless homeware. Painters Kirstin Carlin and Charlotte Alldis both use colour expressively, with very different outcomes. 

Mali Bakery in Melbourne bakes and ices immaculate looking cakes. The combinations are so delicious, they make you want to lick the screen. 

The photography of Naveli Choyal is extraordinarily beautiful. Her work covers the technicolour world of everyday modern India. 

Does that love of colour translate into ‘real life’ - do you wear lots of colour yourself, or incorporate it into your home?

Like my Instagram - there’s no method or plan. It’s probably a sign of my lack of foresight that I’d buy something colourful to wear yet it ‘matches’ nothing in my wardrobe. 

My style choices have always leaned towards playful - bordering on quirky. I’m comfortable mixing prints and colours and have a great fondness for colourful sneakers and the bold Kowtow jumpers that come out each season.

Makeup is a bit different: I rely heavily on a strong eyebrow and a pop of colour on the lip (though that’s on hold due to the last two years of mask-wearing). 

LISSY ROBINSON-COLE

Tell me about your relationship with colour, and how that has changed over the years?

I have always adored colour and the way it has allowed me to express myself, whether through my clothing or in my home. It has always made my heart sing and brought me real joy. I’ve always associated it with creativity and passion. It has taken many years of experimenting and also discovering who I truly am to be confident in how I dress. But I have loved colour since I was a teenager. 

What’s your favourite colour?

Neon pink makes me want to celebrate. I think it’s to do with the vibration that neon has. It is definitely a colour I am drawn to in a powerful way. I believe that my wairua is a sparkly neon pink!

Do you tend to be drawn to specific colours for specific areas of your life - say for fashion, makeup, interiors, or art?

It’s all the same for me, whether it is fashion or interiors. I adore neon pink, bright vivid orange, all the brights. 

Fashion is an incredible way to express yourself and I absolutely love dressing in bright shades. It’s awesome to express outwardly all the vivid dreams I have. I’ve found that people love to interact with you when you’re wearing something bright. I find a lot of people are scared of it, and of standing out. It’s been a way of meeting interesting and different people, simply from wearing bright and bold clothes. It makes me feel happy. 

When I see interiors that incorporate brights, prints and textures, I am taken to my true happy place. Colours have a massive influence on my mood, and how I feel generally. My home environment has to be colourful and happy; I have to be surrounded by beauty. 

Colour is a huge part of your mahi and art. What do you hope to convey with your use of it?

Our vision is to ignite joy globally through our mahi. The use of neon acts as a beacon of glowing light, they have a vibration which heals. We experience this every day in the way we connect with people from all walks of life and with people all over the world. People connect to the vibration of neon in really interesting ways. It draws people in and they want to know more. 

Neon is loud and proud, and are celebratory colours for us. They denote safety, and are unapologetic. Neons say, ‘we are here and we aren’t going anywhere’. 

This is important for our mahi as everything we create is in celebration and made with deep aroha of our beautiful Tūpuna. It is transforming intergenerational trauma into deeply felt joy, one loop at a time. We are acknowledging the gift of aroha we have been given by our Tūpuna and sharing that aroha with the world. Our mahi is about connecting to our wairua and our authentic selves, and in doing so we are healing ourselves, our whānau and our communities.

How does that translate into ‘real life’ - do you wear lots of colour yourself, or incorporate it into your home?

I wear bright colours every single day. Every day is a gift and I know how incredibly short and precious life is.  I dress with the expectation that something great may happen and if it does, I’m ready for it! 

I dress to have fun, express myself and to celebrate life. If we owned our whare, it would be painted in all the brights! As we rent, we have really colourful artworks, and adornments on the walls and furniture. The brighter the better.

It is so important for us in all areas of our lives. There is a real connection between colour and healing and joy. When I am surrounded by bright shades in my environment and in my clothing, I am taken to a deep sense of happiness within myself. Colour makes our hearts sing!

KRYSTAL BOYD-PRIEST

Tell me about your relationship with colour, and how that has changed?

I actually used to be a bit of a goth and wore heaps of black and creepers… so I’ve come a long way since then in terms of being more experimental with styling heaps of vibrant colours. At the moment I am loving mixing contrasting brights or different shades of the same shade in my outfits.

What’s your favourite colour?

Pink because it is usually thought of as “feminine”, soft and delicate and I like challenging the idea of how pink is often portrayed. 

Do you tend to be drawn to specific colours for specific areas of your life - say for fashion, makeup, interiors, or art? 

I would say my tastes and preferences evolve and change over time but I don’t have specific shades that I attribute to certain areas but I do like matching timeless pieces back with eccentric prints or pop of colour.

You have incredible style that often incorporates colour (and print). How would you describe your style - and your approach to wearing colour?

Naturally I would say my style is quite casual and “tomboy” if people still use that term, I like to wear bold silhouettes with baggy tees and relaxed pants or wide-long skirts. I don’t think you can ever feel genuinely confident if you aren’t wearing comfortable clothes.

Are there any brands or designers that you think approach their use of colour especially well?

For homeware I am in love with Sage and Clare, and Castle and Things. Both are Australian brands that make all sorts of products with fun prints, textures and colours that make spaces come to life. 

For fashion The Knitter always has a considered palette I adore, and new kiwi designer Olivia Cashmore has won me over with the green and purple she incorporated in her first two collections. Over the ditch Emma Mulholland has always created some of my favourite graphics and prints, her Em on Holiday (formerly Holiday the Label) linen sets are some of my most worn items in my wardrobe currently.