The icon
Don’t think that Jack White and his sister Meg just picked up on when they started the White Stripes. Behind their strict color code red/black/white that applied to both artwork and clothing was an entire ideology. Against Rolling Stone White said that from a Coca-Cola can to Nazi banners and the Japanese flag, red is the most powerful color that strikes a chord with people because red represents anger and passion. When the Stripes broke up, Jack renounced the color red, replacing it with blue—and a darker sound.
the mortal 
Red is of course a striking color, so it makes sense that singer Rob Kemps uses it for his Snollebolleke uniform. He uses the red hat as a clown’s nose and he gets the tie in contrasting yellow to be able to write leut with an extra thick capital L. The eyes of the audience turn red by all the hopping from left to right – red as a showcase of cheerfulness.
But red is of course more than a pipo color. In the case of blood red, it is also a color that communicates aggression. It’s not for nothing that Warner Bros chose the portrait of James Dean in his red windbreaker for the movie poster of Rebel without a cause. Leather is the textile version of the middle finger; red leather is the same middle finger, with ‘hate‘ tattooed on your knuckles.
Look, a red dress transforms a woman into a vamp, into a Marilyn Monroe (in Gentleman prefer blondes) or a Jessica Rabbit (in Who framed Roger Rabbit). A lady in red is, as Chris de Burgh sings, seen as the toast of the town.
But a man completely in red, that’s a different story. Then thoughts go back to Eddie Murphy Delirioushis legendary stand-up show from 1983. That show’s opening monologue is actually a five-minute diatribe against ‘fagots‘, after which he then lashes out at a bunch of others.
Eddie Murphy is playing in Delirious 230 times the word ‘fuck‘(‘shit’ only 171 times), and does so in a red leather suit. That suit is crucial in communication. It’s the packaging of his aggression, like Brad Pitt’s red leather jacket in Fight Cluba leather middle finger.
On the catwalk 
Red is without exaggeration the hit color of men’s fashion for next fall. What is red can be interpreted liberally: from blood to tomato red, from wine red to purple. As diligent style students have known for years, a single color look is given extra depth by using different materials, as Etro and Paul Smith neatly demonstrate here. Also exciting: a little swearing in the fashion church, by combining burgundy with orange-red, or scarlet with fuchsia. Such a very red look a bit too crazy? A red jacket or a red hat can also do wonders for your visibility and mood.
Homework
* Red on red on red can look great, but feel free to choose your shoes in a different color to avoid an overdose.
* Bright red with burgundy, orange or fuchsia is completely contemporary, but here too the following applies: dose. The less brave try tone-on-tone shades first.
*Afraid of a golf cockerel look? Combine your red pants with shades of brown, not with navy blue.