As the year draws to a close there’s still a few things to look forward to. Aside from getting dragged by Spotify Wrapped and eating my weight in cheese in front of the TV, the Pantone Color of the Year is a window to next year’s trends. So it was disappointing when the 2026 choice was revealed.
Pantone Color of the Year: girl, it’s literally white
According to Pantone themselves:
PANTONE 11-4201 Cloud Dancer, a lofty white that serves as a symbol of calming influence in a society rediscovering the value of quiet reflection. A billowy white imbued with serenity, PANTONE 11-4201 Cloud Dancer encourages true relaxation and focus, allowing the mind to wander and creativity to breathe, making room for innovation
But let’s be honest, lads, it’s fucking white, isn’t it? It’s not calming or reflective, it’s clinical and sterile. It’s the cheap cover-all emulsion your landlord slaps on the walls, sockets, and whatever else gets in the way. The colour itself really, let’s be honest, isn’t one people think about massively, but it’s never just about that.
It’s more than just a colour
But it’s more than just a colour. Pantone sets the tone for the year, and the rest of the design world follows. And in a world that is attempting to quietly push people to be less vocal and individual, a plain white sits uneasily.
Pantone goes on to say
Cloud Dancer is not just a color, it’s a mindset.
That’s the important part that they’re trying to hide with all this wishy washy language ot “serenity.” This is more than just a colour. Because as much as Pantone influences the design world, Pantone is also influenced by what’s going on in the world. So Pantone sees the shift to reframe conservativism as “trad wife influencer” and body shaming as “clean girl aesthetic”. It sees that the world is increasingly becoming more right-wing and fears anything bold or different.
On Instagram, Pantone introduced the colour as:
a whisper of calm and peace in a noisy world. PANTONE 11-4201 Cloud Dancer symbolizes a calming influence in a society rediscovering the value of quiet reflection.
“A noisy world” is a pretty simplistic take on a world where communities of different ethnicities, sexualities, and abilities are fighting to stay alive and just bloody be, whilst governments constantly ostracise them. “Quiet reflection” taps into the mindfulness bullshit that, above all, wants women to stay calm and take deep breaths instead of telling men to do their own fucking housework and be their baby machines.
Reframing focus and clarity as silence
I mentioned women here because, not to stereotype, but it is still women who make a lot of the design choices in the home. It’s women who will be bombarded with social media posts, tv shows, and adverts about “moments of calm”, which translates as “wear the fucking dullest shades ever and neutralise yourself. Make yourself small so men don’t see you as a threat”.
There’s also the ever pervasive language that’s being used in anything geared towards women. “Tranquility” “restorative” “inner calm”, as a spiritual person myself it’s insulting as fuck to see these words which should bring women comfort weaponised by brands who actually want to make us smaller and quieter so we can be better tools of the patriarchy, as opposed to women who come together to realise our actual power is fighting against it.
Pantone’s Color of the Year doesn’t exist in a bubble. They may be the most well-known, but every paint brand releases its colour of the year around this time. As Julia Cancilla from Elle Decor explained, every brand has gone with safe choices this year:
Every brand has justified their choices with the same talking points: wellness, calm, restoration, anti-trend thinking. And I understand the impulse to offer comfort during chaos, but design is also supposed to inspire us, surprise us, and give us something to aspire to. When the entire industry converges on variations of beige and justifies it by saying we’re all too tired for anything bolder, it starts to feel like we’re designing for defeat.
Because it’s not just the colour white that’s actually seen as the outlier in the mocha mousse, soft blush, crushed grey velvet bullshit we’ve seen encroaching the homes of the mummy bloggers in the last few years. For millennial “randomers” like me who loved anything yellow, turquoise and coral, it feels like forcing us into not just dulling down our houses but also who we are as people.
Anyone who lives colourfully will be silenced
It’s also not a coincidence that the accepted way of dressing and what colours we wear is dictated by Western views. Anyone wearing traditional clothes from their culture is seen as dressing “weirdly”. These of course, often feature bright colours or jewel tones.
It might just be a colour for some, but for someone who almost prides themselves on being absolute chaos, a huge part of the cultural zeitgeist wanting to “find calm in the chaos”, feels like they want to take away my individualism and essentially sanitise who I am.
At a time when political movements want anyone who isn’t a cis white straight non-disabled rich man to be silenced, making your colour of the year literally white is a direct statement that the world needs to stop being less vibrant and individual and anyone who lives their life boldly and colourfully should be silenced.
Featured image via Unsplash/Ryan Shumway
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