(Above) designer Rahul Khanna of Cue prefers to keep the colour blocking simple with solid colour separates; (below) Burberry Prorsum’s line offers dresses, T-shirt dresses and tunics in bright colours with accessories in vibrant shades thrown in

A certain degree of daring is a pre-requisite this summer as whimsical fashion hinges itself firmly on the colour wheel. Colour blocking is de rigueur and dazzling, bright blocks of colour are popping off the runways loudly announcing the arrival of a fresh trend in the world of glitzy glamour. The message is clear and loud: Dress Bold.

Colour blocking is the order of the day as fashion designers put together multiple solid colours for a head-to-toe look. Expect startling combinations — parrot greens and equally striking purples or vermilion reds used alongside vibrant fuchsias. The notes are clashing and at times not too easy on the eyes but they are cutting-edge.

“It’s a hard look to carry off, but is rewarding and who better than an Indian to wear it with élan?” says designer Anupamaa Dayal, known for showing clothes that marry Western silhouettes with traditional Indian printing techniques. She finds her way around primary colours like red, yellow and blue, and plays them off against each other on sheer maxi dresses, long batik-print tube dresses and kaftans.

“The Anupamaa Dayal sensibility however is not about solid colours. So, I used minuscule prints in an understated way so that they did not draw attention away from the colour blocks,” says Dayal, who has co-ordinated two to three strong colours on a single outfit for her resort collection, Short Stories. There is fluorescent pink paired with lemon green and forest green teamed with vermilion red and electric blue.

Designer Rahul Khanna of Cue got the theme going by using solid blocks and bands of colours on the backs, sleeves and collars of his dresses and tops. He teams two bright colours in a dress — for instance, orange with fuchsia and red with purple. He also veers toward neutrals — by blocking gray with black or copper gold with black.

“The rules are pretty simple — you either wear an outfit with a few blocks of colour or make your own look by wearing solid colour separates and colour-blocked accessories,” says Khanna.

There’s serious colour overload in designer Urvashi Kaur’s line of angarakha-inspired kurtas, churidar pants and layered tunic dresses. “Red, green, yellow and blue find place in one silhouette but in a linear way, so that it doesn’t make the person wearing it look big,” says Kaur, who has designed her collection in chanderi, tussar, woven silks and self patterned linen.

Chanel’s single coloured, fuchsia vinyl clutches can be paired with its cruisewear collection featuring oranges and blues

Overwhelmed with colours? Wait, there’s more. For designer Rahul Reddy, fresh candy colours like lime, turquoise, pink, orange and purple do the trick. “My first encounter with colour blocking came through the work of Dutch artist Piet Mondrian who typically painted a grid of black lines and filled in panels with the three primary colours,” says Reddy.

Candy colours like turquoise, pink and purple do the trick for designer Rahul Reddy; (below) debutant Jelin George’s line uses different shades of the same colours with details like hearts and bows in extreme, contrasting hues Pix: Rupinder Sharma

Meanwhile, upcoming designer Jelin George, who debuted at the Lakme Fashion Week last year, devotes her line, Wake Me With a Kiss, to the colour-blocked look with tiny details such as little hearts and bows (as prints and embellishments) to go with a fairy tale theme. On the one hand, her palette is high on dark blue that’s used alongside sky blue, while on the other, she takes it to the extreme and combines mint green with blood red on fitted dresses, jackets and trousers.

If colour blocking is the new love of the fashion world, international fashion houses in India too have plunged in with abandon. Chanel’s Saint Tropez Cruise Wear collection offers solid blocks of oranges, candy pinks and blues on separates and jumpsuits that you can team with its fuchsia vinyl clutches.

Fendi’s Spring-Summer 2011 collection not only has colour-blocked dresses but more — tri-coloured bangles and colour-blocked clutches. According to Silvia Venturini Fendi, the woman behind the fashion house, the fabric called Pequin, that has been reproduced with a patchwork of strips of exotic skins like eel-skin, was the starting point for its multi-colour story.

And while Louis Vuitton has colour-blocked clutches, Burberry Prorsum in its Spring-Summer line goes strong with colour blocking through shift dresses, T-shirt dresses and tunics in bright citrus, pink azaleas and limes. The look is completed with envelope clutches and sling bags in purple and lime.

But how can you wear the look without going wrong? According to Khanna, wear col-ours which go together like green and blue or orange and fuchsia.

“Whenever you feel it is one colour too many, throw in a white or a black accessory to tone it down,” says Dayal. She offers an easy way to get the colour-blocked look. Adds Dayal: “Invest in three sets of solid coloured tops, some solid lowers, two pairs of fun-coloured shoes, a few scarves and a bunch of solid-coloured neckpieces.”

Get this straight, colour is the new black and all things bright promise to be beautiful. So, gear up for a super-intense summer splashed with colours.