英國(guó)王室出訪，著裝色彩傳達(dá)善意

The second European outreach tour by the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge, which took place this week in Poland and Germany, was notable for a number of reasons.

劍橋公爵夫婦于本周到訪波蘭和德國(guó)，兩人的第二次歐洲之旅之所以引人注目，是有很多原因的。

First was the trip’s success as what German newspapers called “die royale Charme-Offensive,” a.k.a. the use of the “New Gen” royals as envoys to reassure Europeans that just because Britain is leaving the European Union, it doesn’t mean everyone can’t be friends. Second was the fact that — unlike the first tour, to France — the young family went en bloc, with Prince George, 3, and Princess Charlotte, 2, joining their parents. And third was the canny use of the family’s clothing to present a coordinated picture of friendship and cultural awareness.

首先，此行作為德國(guó)報(bào)章口中的“王室魅力攻勢(shì)”獲得成功，“新一代”王室成員以使節(jié)的身份讓歐洲人放心：英國(guó)脫離歐盟并不意味著大家不能做朋友。其次是這樣一個(gè)事實(shí)：與到訪法國(guó)的第一趟歐洲行不同——這個(gè)年輕的王室家庭此番是舉家出游，3歲的喬治王子(Prince George)和2歲的夏洛特公主(Princess Charlotte)加入了他們父母的行列。再次是這家人巧妙利用著裝，展示了一幅關(guān)于友誼和文化意識(shí)的協(xié)調(diào)畫面。

A color-coordinated picture, to be exact.

確切地說(shuō)，是一幅色彩協(xié)調(diào)的畫面。

Diplomats and politicians using their wardrobes as vehicles of communication is increasingly part of the job these days — we expect it, they plan for it. Traditionally, though, the focus has been on what women wear, and largely what spouses of leaders wear, in part because they tend to be cast in a role that demands their clothes do the speaking for them.

時(shí)至今日，外交官和政治人物以自身著裝為交流工具的做法，在其工作中變得越來(lái)越常見——我們對(duì)此有期待，他們也為此做規(guī)劃。不過(guò)通常而言，重心會(huì)被放在女士的穿著上，而且主要是領(lǐng)導(dǎo)人配偶的穿著，這在某種程度上是因?yàn)樗麄兺环峙砂缪菀粋€(gè)要讓衣著為自己代言的角色。

Originally, that took the form of support for home industry (like wearing creations by designers from your country, the better to get their names known round the world). Later, it evolved into cross-border symbolism: wearing the styles of designers from the country being visited, or who were born in the country being visiting and who later moved to your country, thus serving notice that you cared about the host country’s creative community. Either way, the thought process was revealed by the inevitable question, “Who are you wearing?”

起初，這種事是以支持本土產(chǎn)業(yè)的面貌出現(xiàn)(比如，穿上你自己國(guó)家的設(shè)計(jì)師的作品，以讓他們的名字舉世皆知。)后來(lái)又演化出跨越國(guó)境的象征性：穿上所到國(guó)家的設(shè)計(jì)師或出生于該國(guó)、后來(lái)移居你的國(guó)家的設(shè)計(jì)師的作品，由此宣告你很關(guān)注東道國(guó)的創(chuàng)意群體。無(wú)論如何，一個(gè)難免被問(wèn)及的問(wèn)題會(huì)讓這種心思得到顯露：“你身上的服裝是誰(shuí)設(shè)計(jì)的?”

Now, however, we seem to have reached something of a new stage.

不過(guò)現(xiàn)在，我們似乎進(jìn)入了某個(gè)新階段。

The duchess — the former Kate Middleton — has employed both of the above tactics quite effectively on official trips to India, Canada and the United States, and did so again this time around, wearing British names such as Alexander McQueen, Catherine Walker and Jenny Packham, and Gosia Baczynska, a Polish designer, to a party in honor of the queen’s birthday in Warsaw; Markus Lupfer, a German-born designer now working in London, to a reception in Berlin; and Hugo Boss, to compete in a rowing race in Heidelberg, Germany. But it was the two moments of arrival in each country, when the Cambridges deplaned en masse and in theme, that made the most impact.

本名為凱特·米德爾頓(Kate Middleton)的劍橋公爵夫人，在正式出訪印度、加拿大和美國(guó)之際都行之有效地同時(shí)采取了上述兩種策略，這一次也是如此——在華沙出席一場(chǎng)慶祝英女王生日的派對(duì)時(shí)，其著裝有的來(lái)自亞歷山大·麥昆(Alexander McQueen)、凱瑟琳·沃克(Catherine Walker)、珍妮·帕克漢(Jenny Packham)等英國(guó)品牌，有的則出自波蘭設(shè)計(jì)師戈西亞·巴克齊斯卡(Gosia Baczynska)之手;在柏林出席一場(chǎng)招待會(huì)時(shí)，她穿著出生于德國(guó)、目前在倫敦工作的設(shè)計(jì)師馬庫(kù)斯·盧普弗(Markus Lupfer)的作品;在德國(guó)海德堡參加賽艇比賽時(shí)，她穿的則是雨果·博斯(Hugo Boss)。但最令人印象深刻的兩個(gè)時(shí)刻，是身穿同主題服裝的劍橋公爵一家抵達(dá)波蘭和德國(guó)，一同下飛機(jī)之際。

Why was that? Well, because they got the whole family involved!

為什么是那樣的時(shí)刻?因?yàn)樗屑彝コ蓡T都在其中啊!

Landing in Warsaw, for example, they were a symphony in (mostly) red and white, Poland’s national colors: the duchess in white Alexander McQueen; the duke in a navy suit, white shirt and red tie; Princess Charlotte in a red-and-white smocked dress and red shoes; Prince George in a red-and-blue check shirt and navy shorts.

舉個(gè)例子，在華沙下飛機(jī)的時(shí)候，他們的著裝(主要)是波蘭的代表色——紅白兩色的和諧交融：公爵夫人身穿白色的亞歷山大·麥昆;公爵身穿海軍藍(lán)套裝，內(nèi)襯白色襯衫，系紅色領(lǐng)帶;夏洛特公主穿著帶皺飾的紅白兩色連衣裙和紅色鞋子;喬治王子則穿著紅藍(lán)格子襯衫和海軍藍(lán)短褲。

And that highly visual entrance was followed by a similarly choreographed arrival in Berlin, with the duchess in a Prussian blue — or Berlin blue — coat and dress by Catherine Walker, Prince William in a matching tie, Princess Charlotte in a blue-and-white floral dress, and Prince George in a matching light-blue shirt and again (navy) shorts.

在華沙來(lái)了一場(chǎng)極具視覺風(fēng)格的亮相之后，他們又在柏林以同樣經(jīng)過(guò)精心編排的方式登場(chǎng)：公爵夫人身穿凱瑟琳·沃克的普魯士藍(lán)——又稱柏林藍(lán)——外衣連衣裙，威廉王子系著同色系的領(lǐng)帶，夏洛特公主身穿藍(lán)白兩色碎花裙，喬治王子則身穿相襯的淺藍(lán)色襯衫，下身還是(海軍藍(lán))短褲。

Whether anyone heard the diplomatic niceties mumbled to the officials on the tarmac didn’t matter: The wider message, meant for anyone watching — or reading, or checking Instagram — was unmistakable from the pictures, which were singularly easy to read no matter what the platform. The individual designers mattered less than the net effect of the colors.

不論有沒(méi)有人聽到被含糊不清地傳達(dá)給停機(jī)坪上的那些官員的外交辭令，都不要緊：這些畫面讓親眼目睹的每一個(gè)人——或者讀到相關(guān)信息的人，或者上Instagram的人——準(zhǔn)確無(wú)誤地接收到了為他們準(zhǔn)備的更豐富的訊息——不論在任何平臺(tái)上，其含義都顯而易見。單個(gè)設(shè)計(jì)師不及顏色產(chǎn)生的實(shí)際效果重要。

Interestingly, Melania Trump likewise dressed in color code during her recent trip with President Trump to France, with pretty much every outfit featuring some combination of red, white and blue, the colors of the French and American flags.

有趣的是，梅拉尼婭·特朗普(Melania Trump)最近隨特朗普總統(tǒng)出訪法國(guó)時(shí)，也曾依照色彩隱含的訊息進(jìn)行穿搭：幾乎每一套著裝都以紅、白、藍(lán)的某種組合為特色，那是法國(guó)和美國(guó)國(guó)旗的顏色。

In both cases, the point was not about changing the business fortunes of a brand, but about acknowledging the national identity and history of the host country — about finding a point of convergence.

這兩個(gè)案例中，重點(diǎn)不在于改變一個(gè)品牌的商業(yè)前景，而在于對(duì)東道國(guó)的國(guó)家身份和歷史予以認(rèn)同——在于找出一個(gè)交匯點(diǎn)。

Like the themed socks of Prime Minister Justin Trudeau of Canada, such calculated prismatics are an accessible approach to the diplomatic dress challenge. You don’t have to know anything about fashion to understand them.

像加拿大總理賈斯汀·特魯多(Justin Trudeau)的主題襪一樣，這種經(jīng)過(guò)仔細(xì)考量的色彩策略，是用以應(yīng)對(duì)外事活動(dòng)著裝挑戰(zhàn)的可行方法。你不必對(duì)時(shí)尚有任何了解就能明白色彩背后的含義。

Think of it as Pantone politics. Betcha we’ll see more of it.

不妨拿它和潘通(Pantone)政治學(xué)作比。我們肯定會(huì)看到它越來(lái)越多地發(fā)揮作用。