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New York, NY—With Fashion Week here a wrap and London’s fashion shows underway, the big news emerging from the runways for spring/summer 2012 is—still—color. Color has made news for several seasons and black definitely is not the new black. While the Milan and Paris shows have yet to be held, some key trends for the season already are emerging. Here’s what we know so far about fashion trends for next spring:

Vibrant neons are combined with lighter sherbet shades, while light, airy fabrics give everyone’s spirits a needed lift.

Trendy new ways to wear color for spring/summer 2012 are color blocking (seen top left, by Peter Som) and tropical prints.

Sports and scuba influences imply fun in economic times that have been anything but.

With precious metal prices going through the roof, metallic fabrics bring a richness to fashion at a much lower price-per-ounce.

The peplum adds a feminine, flirty, feel-good flounce to dresses and jackets.

Metallics on the runway at Reed Krakoff, left, and peplums like this one from Jason Wu are a new silhouette for spring/summer 2012.

Alexander Wang goes sporty with a takeoff on the baseball jacket, while Richard Chai Love's tropical print skirt is topped by a "driftwood" color top as Pantone calls it in its list of top 10 colors. All photos here and above, Huffington Post.

Meanwhile, we all know that “color” in fashion doesn’t just mean grab a crayon and go. The Pantone Institute is the leading expert and predictor of color trends, and each year it offers up a list of the Top 10 colors for the upcoming year. In the past, its predictions have been spot on—note how much turquoise is still raging from its status as the top color for 2010 and how many starlets are donning pretty gowns in “honeysuckle,” the 2011 Color of the Year.

Here are the colors Pantone predicts will be hot for 2012:

Consumers look to spring for renewed energy, optimism and the promise of a brighter day," said Leatrice Eiseman, executive director of the Pantone Color Institute. To read the entire report, click here.