The system
Seasonal color analysis, then Chromara
Four seasons became twelve. Chromara keeps the three axes and coins four Houses — Vela, Nira, Kora, Sable — with three types each.
Classic four seasons
Twentieth-century personal color sorted people into Spring, Summer, Autumn, and Winter. Spring was warm and light. Summer was cool and muted. Autumn was warm and deep. Winter was cool and clear. The idea was sound: heat, value, and chroma sit on a face whether or not you name them after weather.
The problem was the costume. “I am an Autumn” is hard to copyright, easy to argue with, and loaded with clichés (must be a redhead; must wear mustard). Clients also landed between seasons. A warm, light, *clear* person is not the same as a warm, light, *soft* person, and four buckets could not hold both.
Twelve-season systems
Most modern drapes split each season into three: Light, True/Warm or Cool, and Deep or Clear or Soft, depending on the school. You still get twelve types. You still argue about the names. You still buy a fan deck labeled “Soft Summer” that looks like every other dusty-rose fan on the internet.
Chromara keeps the geometry and drops the weather. We drape three axes:
- Warm or cool (undertone)
- Light or deep (value)
- Clear or muted/soft (chroma)
Four combinations become four Houses. Three types live inside each House. Twelve types total. We do not invent a fifth House, a “season 13,” or a celebrity subtype.
The four Chromara Houses
House Vela is warm, light, and clear. Sunlit gold. Ivory, peach, coral, aqua, sunflower. Metals: yellow gold and rose gold. Leave cool grey, dusty mauve, and icy pastels.
House Nira is cool, soft, and muted. Rose and ash. Blush, periwinkle, sage, cocoa. Metals: silver, pewter, platinum. Leave tomato red, mustard, camel, and neon.
House Kora is warm, deep, and muted. Harvest spice. Terracotta, olive, oxblood, camel. Metals: antique gold, bronze, copper. Leave icy white, fuchsia, and royal blue.
House Sable is cool, deep, and clear. Ice and jewel. True red, black, sapphire, optic white. Metals: platinum and bright silver. Leave camel, rust, mustard, and dusty peach.
If you already know a twelve-season name, the overlap is directional, not a legal mapping we sell. A Light Spring energy often sits in Vela Light. A Soft Summer energy often sits in Nira Soft. A Deep Autumn energy often sits in Kora Deep. A Clear Winter energy often sits in Sable Clear. We still drape you. We do not rubber-stamp a quiz you took in 2019.
Why coined Houses
Color Icon Studio needed names we can teach, certify, and put on a fan deck without borrowing someone else’s season list. Vela, Nira, Kora, and Sable are Chromara. The twelve types — Vela Light, Vela Warm, Vela Clear; Nira Light, Nira Cool, Nira Soft; Kora Soft, Kora Warm, Kora Deep; Sable Deep, Sable Cool, Sable Clear — are the whole taxonomy.
That discipline matters when Instant, the Find quiz, and a live drape all have to agree on language. Mira Ellison’s Instant reading returns a House and a type from that list. A Color Icon on a live virtual returns the same list. Certification trains the same list. There is no “bonus House” for influencers.
How to use this if you already have a season
Keep the clothes that still work. Translate the ones that do not. If you were styled as a Warm Autumn but look better in lighter, clearer coral than in olive, you may be Vela, not Kora. If you were styled as a Dark Winter but dusty rose is kinder than true red, you may be Nira, not Sable.
The free Find quiz walks the axes. Instant House Reading is $39.95 and credits toward a $195+ live virtual. A live drape is still the gold standard because silk on skin beats a name you inherited.
Seasonal color analysis explained is, in the end, three questions. Chromara is how we answer them on purpose.
What we do not drape
We do not drape “Bright Spring vs Light Spring vs True Spring” as separate product lines. Those arguments live inside House Vela as Light, Warm, and Clear. We do not drape a celebrity’s season as a thirteenth type. We do not tell men they are exempt — Julian Moreno holds Kora for all genders; Amara Cole holds Sable the same way.
We also do not tell you that neutrals are universal. Black is a Sable (and sometimes deep Kora) tool, not a default. White is either ivory (Vela/Kora) or optic (Nira/Sable). Navy splits: warm-teal navy can live in Vela or Kora; ink navy lives in Sable; dusty navy often lives in Nira. “Just wear navy” is how people get washed out.
How certification holds the line
House representatives train on the same four Houses. Tuition is paid on Stripe. The practicum is live. The point of coined names is that a client in Chicago and a client on a laptop in another country get the same taxonomy from Instant, from Find, and from a Color Icon.
If you are coming from another school, keep your drapes if they still work. Translate the names. Then let Chromara be the system you shop. Fan decks are $78 per House. Instant is $39.95 and credits toward a live virtual from $195. The seasons were a map. Chromara is the studio’s map.