While the strong 80s trend in fashion is yesterday's news, what's interesting is how the favored hue of the era, black, has spilled over into other areas of taste & design. In September 2005, Apple launched a black iPod nano, followed by their first-ever black MacBook. A popular show at NYC's Museum of Modern Art, featuring Swiss architects Jacques Herzog & Pierre de Meuron, is taking place amongst inky black walls and murky lighting. L'Oreal USA recently introduced their latest Polo fragrance, Polo Double Black, and at a summer auction in Paris at the Hotel Dassault, over 250 pieces of art, photography, jewelry & furniture - all black - went on the block. Even the hipster nightclub scene can't resist the lure of the dark side: fashion PR empresario Alexandre de Betak made black the color of choice for the design of his new Paris nightclub, Black Calavados. Part reaction to the all-white minimalism of the 90s and part reflection of our increasingly conservative social values - encouraged by factors such as having a Christian-Right Republican in the US White House - black is very telling about the times in which we live. "Black periods always represent radical departures," Loic Bigot, owner of Tools Gallerie in Paris, a trendy design object emporium, told WWD.

• MOMA Exhibit - Artist's Choice: Herzog & de Meuron
• Black Calavados Nightclub
• Fashiontribes Daily Blog