The Color You (& Everyone On Instagram) Will Be Wearing This Spring

The color red has always been an iconic one for fashion: Who can forget Marilyn Monroe's 1956 siren lace sweetheart dress in the Saturday Evening Post's, or Cindy Crawford's 1991 plunging Versace gown at the Oscars (which now has its own Wikipedia page) — or, even more recently, Jennifer Lawrence's star-making Calvin Klein number from her very first Academy Awards. When it comes to making a statement, it's not simply the color of choice for statement pieces or couture: Red is the bold lipstick, the sole of a designer shoe, the leather of a biker jacket — in different tints, from wine to cherry to ruby. It can even be more powerful as a pair, teamed up with burnt orange, fuchsia pink, or camel to take a life of its own. It's fierce, defiant, and definitely not for wallflowers. Simply put: Red is the color of a woman in charge. We, of course, knew this already — but the spring '17 runways not only reminded us, but also invited us to revisit the striking hue.

Dior's bright red party dress, fashioned out of tulle, was elegant and feminine. Valentino's vinyl trench, meanwhile, felt more utilitarian — and instantly spawned a dozen fast-fashion imitations. Balenciaga's oversized hoodies, in contrast, were a contemporary riff on the hyper-casual, made haute (and a street style essential). Some designers opted to reimagine the color through familiar silhouettes: Fendi did so through a sporty cropped knit, while Proenza Schouler went for a grunge color combination of red and black. With so many collections to pull from, it was pretty much expected that as soon as these garments dropped in stores, our Instagrams would turn red-hot in a flash. Sure enough, the flowers started blooming and the feed began blowing up with scarlet-hued #OOTDs.

From silky PJs to midi dresses, oversized knits to patent Mary Janes, click on to see how red is being styled by our favorite style stars this spring.