Our cars, clothes and even our homes have all become 50 shades of grey, but a handful of optimistic creatives and brands are beginning the fightback against monotony. What does this tell us about the role of colour in counter-culture today? 

Our lives are drenched in it. It covers our high streets, the cars we drive, the clothes we wear. It’s in our homes, covering the walls with names like Mole’s Breath. Skimming Stone. Tar. We’re talking about the colour grey. The defining shade of our monochromed modern era. 

In 2020, researchers from The Science Museum analysed over 7,000 items in their collection of everyday objects from 1800 to the present day, from lamps to telephones. They found that grey tones, including white and black, have replaced more colourful shades over time, and most dramatically in the last 30 years. 

Consider the roads. Almost two thirds of vehicles sold in the UK in 2022 were white, black or grey. The motor industry offers a simple explanation: economics. Buyers need to be smarter with their purchases during difficult times, and cars in plain colours that won’t offend anybody’s tastes have a better chance of being resold. Makes sense. 

But what about fashion or interiors? Areas of everyday expression, where the fade to grey can’t be pragmatically explained away by the resale market. Economics is likely playing a part here too, in a more insidious way. With data-led retail buyers sacrificing creative products in favour of easy wins in safe colours, the consumer has an ever-narrowing palette with which to express themselves. As we’ve discovered elsewhere in culture, joy is often the price we pay for efficiency.

What does this tell us about culture?

It’s unsurprising that repeated recessions, global instability and a cost of living crisis have birthed a grey world. But does this now open up a space for counter-culturalists to combat mainstream monotony with bright splashes of vibrant colour? Could dialling up the saturation be a way to kick against the status quo? 

Charlie XCX certainly thought so when creating the now famous bright green cover for her era-defining Brat album. The idea was plain to see: being young and carefree isn’t monochrome and restrained. It’s unavoidably and unapologetically in colour. Within weeks Brat green and its meaning was being dissected in global media and had influenced the Presidential race. Has a single colour ever had such a cultural impact? 

We’re noticing small shoots of change beyond pop culture too. In 2023 Fiat announced that, despite strong sales, they would stop making grey cars and focus instead on shades that better represent the brand’s reputation for joy and optimism. A bold move, and telling that the company sees colour as a way to reintroduce positivity into the world. 

• Colour is inherently connected to culture: one of the most under-discussed areas of cultural analysis (alongside olfactory symbolism) is colour; racing car red, the earthy hues of nature, and, of course, the darkest dark black of the goths. Colour is a powerful symbol and signifier of cultural belonging, yet remains untapped by brands. How can your brand better visually connect to culture using colour?
• Being canny with counter-cultural colour: given what the spread of monochromania reveals about where the world is at right now, these symbols of happiness (or lack of) can be a helpful way to create a counter position for your brand to take. As in physics, we see in culture that every action has an equal and opposite reaction. Channelling the spirit of Fiat, what conventions or dogma run deep beneath the surface of popular culture that your brand could challenge? That would be truly differentiating. 

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^{(Sources: CultureLab CultureIndex, February 2025)}