Через css переменные можно.
<div class="item" style="--color:black;">
<h1 class="subtitle">lorem 2</h1>
<p>Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipisicing elit. Ipsa aut a placeat, illum suscipit, consequatur officiis veritatis adipisci incidunt sapiente repellendus consequuntur. Enim architecto harum, doloribus illo veritatis omnis facilis.</p>
</div>
https://jsfiddle.net/0tynwegm/ 