3X BRANDS USING COLOUR TO HIJACK CULTURE
Colour isn’t just visual language, it is cultural code. The right shade can redirect a trend, reset a mood, or create one from nothing. For brands, going off palette is a deliberate act of disruption. It creates visual friction that stops the scroll, pulls focus, and opens the space to own a moment before anyone else can.
RHODE: ACID LEMON AS ALGORITHM BAIT
Rhode’s Lemontini lip launch didn’t just introduce a product, it declared butter yellow over. High voltage lemon tore through culture: TikTok unboxings, the now-iconic Rhode phone case selfie reimagined in lemon, and a “Rhode lemontini” cocktail as an edible extension of the palette. Lemontini was engineered for the algorithm. High-contrast against muted feeds, impossible to ignore, and primed to become visual shorthand for a season.
Image: Rhode
LOEWE: SLOW BURN TO COLOUR OWNERSHIP
Loewe didn’t chase tomato red, they cultivated it. Jonathan Anderson seeded the shade across ready to wear, accessories, and scent until it no longer read as a seasonal trend but as Loewe DNA. This was a slow burn play: repetition until ownership felt inevitable, embedding the colour so deeply it now functions as a long-term brand asset.
Image: Loewe
STELLA ARTOIS: LIMITED EDITION WIMBLEDON WHITE
Wimbledon’s all-white dress code is one of sport’s most rigid visual identities. Stella Artois’ stripped back homage was more than a nod to tradition, it was the Summer’s hottest hype play. Using packaging to turn the can into a cultural souvenir, Stella Artois went from supermarket to Stock X. By matching the moment instead of shouting over it, Stella Artois turned cultural fluency into brand magnetism.
Image: Stella Artois
Rhode’s shock lemon, Loewe’s slow burn red, and Stella’s heritage white each show that colour, used with intent, is more than aesthetic. It can disrupt a category, extend a mood into brand property, or embed you in a cultural moment. The most effective brands know colour isn’t the garnish, it’s the message.
Words by Kat Towers, Culture.
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