A silent disapproval. To be in the system, yet not accepting it all. To stand up against the convention and may be, just a sharp turn from the ‘usual’. Presenting ‘Marsala’ – our house colour.

Etymology

//marsala//:

From Italian Marsala, from an Arabic name, probably (marsā ʿaliyy, “Ali’s harbor”), or possibly (marsā llāh, “God’s harbor”). In any case, the first element is ‎ (marsā, “harbor”).

The Colour

Comfortable and secure yet unique and bold. Marsala is a rich, robust color inspired by the Italian fortified wine Marsala. In a colour wheel, it sits between red and violet and is identified as an earthy brown tone with a hint of red.

Character

“When Rose was sitting at the dining table and her mother was chiding her for being ‘inappropriate’ in front of her distinguished social circle, there was a look in Rose’s eyes, silently disapproving of everything.” (A scene from Titanic, the movie)

May be, the non-conformation to a ‘defined set’ makes her so rare, so attractive. May be ‘unique’ is just another cliché to describe her.

Marsala’s journey: from Red to Violet

Marsala didn’t want to rise up against Scarlet, she was not interested in any competition. She failed to understand, why anyone would compare her with Scarlet at all. Scarlet (from the Red family) was loud, bold, always under limelight. A sort of stereotyped success that Marsala didn’t quite understand. She didn’t want to go rogue on her either. She liked her, just that she didn’t like ‘to be’ her.

There was a sophistication in her that would never go unnoticed. An elegance that she didn’t consciously project. She was born with it perhaps. It was, as she felt it, was her ‘own’ class. The very quality that separated her from Violet. There was a darkness in Violet, that didn’t match her character. She couldn’t bear the ultra-flashiness of Violet. The sheen that Violet flaunted all the time. She was happy with her earthiness. The gentleness. Deep down, she was gentle and kind. She was the type whose kindness attracted people.

Even if she could bar herself from being drawn in the family of ‘Red’ or ‘Violet’, she had a fierce and much prominent threat to her identity – Burgundy. Burgundy was so naturally accepted a notion in the world, that Marsala would be often considered to be a shy version of her. But she was anything but Burgundy. Burgundy lacked the subtlety, the boldness, the character. In fact, Marsala always thought that Burgundy silently nurtured the ambition of being Scarlet. Burgundy aspired the glow and the attention. She wanted to provoke her admirers with her ‘naturalness’.

But Marsala was still an unaccepted identity. She was urban, yet earthy. Bold, yet subtle. She didn’t want to belong to an ‘established family’, yet she was always compared to one of them. And most of all, her ‘neutrality towards gender’ – was thoroughly misunderstood. She didn’t understand a male from a female…she was only drawn to substance, character, UN-ordinariness, or just ‘simplicity’.
Her non-definition was good though, she thought. Let her remain an enigma. Let the allegory define her. That way, she need not explain herself to anyone. She felt settled… in her ambiguity.

 

Recognition at last
In 2015, Pantone, world’s most revered colour hub, declared Marsala as ‘Color of the Year’.
It defined the colour as – ‘A naturally robust and earthy wine red, Marsala enriches our minds, bodies and souls.’