Pantone Panic: The Controversy Over a Color

Pantone Cloud Dancer, courtesy of Pantone.

With every new year comes new themes, be it the classic New Year’s resolutions, a new mindset, goals, or trends. One of these new themes is decided on by Pantone, a color standardizing company. Their “Color of the Year” demonstrates the current themes going of the world, and is utilized for trends, branding, and design. However, many years, they receive backlash based on the color they pick. 2026 has been no different.

The official Pantone Color of the Year for 2026 was announced to be Cloud Dancer. As the name would suggest, the color they selected is… white. And while many have argued that white isn’t technically even a color, they do have their reasons. Pantone advertises Cloud Dancer to represent “a whisper of tranquility and peace in a noisy world.” It is meant to encourage reflection, calmness, and focus, and Pantone praises it for its adaptability and cleanliness.

Unfortunately for Pantone, this choice has not been received well by the public. It’s been labeled everything from boring, sterile, to even tone-deaf and dystopian. However, there have also been accusations aimed at them to the extent of promoting white supremacy or suggesting a recession. While Pantone has explicitly stated that skin tones did not factor into their decision making, most people still consider it a poor choice given the increase in white nationalism.

Despite this year’s color being less than popular, it is still likely to have the impact Pantone wants. The Color of the Year has a huge influence on companies. Phones, clothing, furniture, and branding will all likely start appearing in the color Cloud Dancer, giving Pantone a large boost in publicity.

In years past, the color of the year influenced fashion trends, For example, going from 2023 to 2024, the trends shifted from bright colors and Barbie aesthetics to more neutral and calmer tones. Coincidence or not, the color of the year in 2023 was the vibrant Viva Magenta, while 2024 was the paler, more muted, Peach Fuzz.

It’s anyone’s guess what can be expected in the trends and fashion of 2026, but with this being now the third year in a row of a fairly neutral yearly color, it suggests we likely wouldn’t see any drastic upticks in bright colors. However, given the negative reception of this year’s color, it is equally possible that more companies will decide not to follow Pantone’s trend. With the new 2016 throwback trend, certain colorscapes are making a reappearance. So, make your predictions now, as this year's trends seem to have no clear direction.