Welcome to the next installment of Color Theory, our buoyant summer series with only one edict in mind: Let color be your sartorial muse.

We’ve been excitedly building our warm-weather wardrobes around summer’s hottest hues for our Color Theory series. (In case you missed the first one, we were deep in a lavender haze.) But now that summer has officially kicked off and the marine layer (and our mood) is starting to lift, we find ourselves craving a hot and spicy kick of fiery red to get the summer party started. We like putting this haute hue in everything from robust main courses such as dresses and shirts to sprinkling a dash of it here and there as a delicious accent.

Think of this sophisticated shade as an unexpected neutral because it works surprisingly well as a bold base — and plays beautifully with others. Navy, black, camel and white pieces are the perfect way to ground a fiery red. And with that in mind, you can build a summer road-trip getaway bag that can take you from sightseeing to seaside, fireworks to flamenco effortlessly. Olé!

Gianvito Rossi