Business & Finance: Color-of-the-Season

Into voluntary bankruptcy in Manhattan last week went Amalgamated Silk Corp., one of the largest silk manufacturers, long a money-loser. But while Amalgamated surrendered to the industry's depression, other silk manufacturers helped themselves by a neat economic stratagem.

Color-of-the-season in U. S. women's fashions is no longer determined by a universal change of taste, nor even by the Paris designers who set skirt lengths, waist heights. Color-of-the-season is now decided by the U. S. manufacturers of silks, cotton-goods, shoes, hats, pocketbooks. These gentlemen simply "get together" and agree that one season's cerise shall be supplanted by green, purple or "Mrs. Harding blue." They agree that a certain proportion, say 65%!, of each gentleman's production shall be in the agreed new color. That saves money in dye-buying. And each different product helps the rest to sell, since "ensembles" must be thoroughgoing. The U. S. gentlemen politely notify the Paris arbiters of their decision by sending over generous "samples," which the thrifty Parisians can easily sell for cash. In return, the Paris arbiters recommend the new color-of-the-season.

This year it has been decided that Black shall be even more fashionable than last, that all the autumn colors shall be dark. The economic wisdom of this decision is easy to see. Last year's opalescent pinks & blues—and 1929's brown and 1928's beige & red—odd-lots of which remain in many a manufacturer's inventory (Amalgamated last week had $1,150,000 in inventories), can readily be redyed and sold so long as the new color is darker than before, or Black. Manufacturers may escape the red of deficits through the black of fashion.