Color Convos: Stasher's Creative Director on Choosing the Lush Colors for our Tropical Collection

Think storage has to be boring? Think again. 

"A lot of personality comes through color and it's such a huge part of Stasher's history. Thinking back to when I first started with the company a few years ago, we were only offering a small handful of colors, but color was already built into our DNA." 

That's Stasher's creative director, Stacie Navarro, and she knows first hand what an important role color has played in the company's evolution — starting with a small number of core colors you know and love (like aqua, citrus, and lime) to the insanely popular Mojave collection (three cheers for terra cotta, dusk, and agave), and now the launch of our latest color collection. Color? Well, it's just in our DNA. 

Each April, in honor of Earth Month, Stasher will introduce a new color collection aimed at spotlighting and protecting our planet’s special places. 

And because we may not be traveling right now, but could definitely use a getaway, we're excited to introduce the Tropical collection. A palette of colors inspired by far-off locations, breezy islands, and stunning horizons. A portion of each bag or bundle purchased will benefit the Coral Reef Alliance, a nonprofit working to save our planet's coral reefs. 

To give you a peek behind the curtain, we chatted with our creative director to see how she uses color to take a fresh look at food storage. 

Where did you find inspiration for the Tropical collection? 

There's no shortage of amazing tropical habitats around the globe, but I've had the privilege of visiting Hawaii with my family and have seen the expanse of colors first-hand so I naturally gravitated towards the beautiful palette of the islands. Plus, Hawaii accounts for around 85% of coral reefs in the United States, so it was a no-brainer. 

How did you decide on the colors for this collection? 

I wanted to make sure we captured multiple aspects of “tropical” so I cast a wide net and started collecting images of Hawaiian sea life, birds, plants, foods, and landscapes.

I pulled colors from those to come up with an initial set of around 15 colors while also considering what colors have been fan favorites in the past. From there I played with the combinations to see what could work as a cohesive collection and narrowed it down to nine.

After getting samples of bags in those nine colors, I recruited the internal Stasher Squad to vote for their favorites. The final six became the official Tropical Collection!

What does your creative process look like when choosing colors?

I like to focus on diversity — where we're going has to be different from where we've been. And since we're coming off the rich, earthy colors of Mojave, I wanted to bring more lightness and airiness to this collection. Like soft, gentle hues from the islands of Hawaii.

From there I select color swatches and create digital mood boards of each color to help communicate what we’re aiming for as we go into the first round of samples. It’s always really interesting to get the samples and see how the colors translate to silicone. We typically go through several rounds to get them just right.

What inspires you most about creating for a company like Stasher?

I’ve worked for a range of retail companies, and have never felt as proud of a brand as I am of Stasher. In a world that is full of “stuff,” it feels good to be part of a supportive and talented team that genuinely cares about the impact it is having.

Do you have a favorite Tropical color? 

I’m sure I do, and I’m sure it changes with the day. To be honest, I love the colors in pairings. If I had to pick one, I’d probably go with Waterfall. Or Palm. Or Pineapple. Or . . . oh, who can choose?!

Your turn 

Check out our latest Tropical collection, which benefits the Coral Reef Alliance, and share your favorite Tropical colors with us on Instagram!