It may be grey outside when the calendar flips to 2011, but a bright red-pink hue will be in fashion.

"Honeysuckle" is the colour for 2011, chosen by Pantone Colour Institute, the research arm of Pantone Inc., the company that largely sets colour standards for the fashion and home industries.

"The reddish pink shade lights a fire to your senses and revs you up," says Leatrice Eiseman, executive director of the Pantone Colour Institute.

It's much livelier than 2010's colour of the year -  turquoise.

"That was supposed to have a calming, escapist effect on the public's collective psyche after all of the bruising, economic challenges," Eiseman says, "but now we're ready for something stronger while still not moving quite at full-steam ahead".