Bold Haori Crimson

Old English beald, brave, courageous — a quality word that crossed over to color in the late seventeenth century. Bold describes a color that asserts itself: high saturation combined with mid lightness, where the hue presents itself without compromise. Sits at the center of the bold-bucket grid, near strong and rich. Closer to a presence word than a pigment word.

Japanese haori, short-jacket-over-kimono. As a color modifier, haori implies a Japanese-haori-and-short-jacket-over-kimono quality, the visual register of Edo-and-Meiji-haori-jacket hand-Japanese-haori-and-short-jacket-over-kimono Edo-and-Meiji-haori-jacket-and-Kyoto-Nishijin-and-Tokyo-Asakusa haori-and-Japanese-haori-and-short-jacket surfaces under Edo-and-Meiji-haori-jacket-and-Kyoto-Nishijin-and-Tokyo-Asakusa Edo-Tokugawa-and-Meiji-Tokyo Japanese-jacket-light. Sits at the modifier-and-textile end of the grid, parallel to kimono and sari in usage.

From the Old Spanish cremesin, itself from the Arabic qirmiz — the kermes scale insect, dried and ground into a brilliant carmine dye prized in the medieval Mediterranean. For centuries the most expensive red on a draper's shelf, reserved for cardinals, kings, and the cloth that gave English the word crimson. Cooler than scarlet, deeper than rose; the color of pomegranate seeds and a serious occasion.