It's So Easy Being Green

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Except for a brief moment in the '70s when avocado was the color to wear, green has always been a tough sell. But over the past few months, the shunned shade has shown up everywhere from Julianne Moore's Yves Saint Laurent Oscar dress and matching Boucheron earrings to Hershey's new green Chocolate Syrup. "We're seeing it across the entire marketplace and at every price point," says Leatrice Eiseman, director of the Pantone Color Institute.

Model Carolyn Murphy wore a leaf-green vintage Loris Azzaro dress to this year's Metropolitan Museum Costume Institute gala, Dolce & Gabbana covered its flapper frocks in kelly-green fringe, and Roberto Cavalli accented his sport-inspired menswear collection with Astroturf shades. In Hollywood, on the heels of The Hulk comes Shrek 2, slated for release in June 2004, as well as three green pieces in the works: Neverland and Peter Pan, both adaptations of the book, and talk of a new Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles movie.

When it comes to branding, companies are drawn not only to green but to "green." Organic beauty products like Dr. Hauschka's count among their fans Brad Pitt and Julia Roberts. The organic-food craze has even penetrated the junk-food market with products like Tostitos Organic Blue Corn Tortilla Chips.

Still uneasy about green? There's another color on the horizon. "Green is protective and nurturing in a time of war and a bad economy," Eiseman says. "Red is optimistic, exciting and patriotic." --By Kristina Zimbalist