Pantone has formally introduced its shade of the yr for 2026 — and social media is… not having it.
The colour authority selected a crisp white hue referred to as Cloud Dancer (Pantone 17-1230), describing it as a “image of calming affect in a frenetic society.” Based on Pantone, the shade is supposed to be “much like a clean canvas” and “quiets the thoughts, encouraging true rest and focus that permits the thoughts to wander and creativity to breathe.”
“Peeling away layers of outmoded considering, we open the door to new approaches,” Pantone added. The corporate additionally emphasised that the choice was “not arbitrary” however the results of “considerate consideration and pattern evaluation.”
Nonetheless, the web appears unimpressed. The backlash was swift, echoing the groans that adopted final yr’s Mocha Mouse announcement.
Lidiana Rios (@ittybittylidi) didn’t maintain again on Instagram: “The colour of tens of millions of boring ‘influencer’ interiors that fascinating and curious design is actively shifting away from… did you ask AI to give you this? It’s giving LLM-generated, it’s an algorithmic alternative, it’s nearly radically uninspired, I might move out from boredom.”
Others had been fast to name out the timing of the selection. One person on X wrote, “i do know it’s only a shade and it’s not that deep and so on and so on however pantone selecting white as the colour of the yr throughout a time the place white s*premacy is on the rise is so.”
And, after all, the memes began rolling. One joked, “The Pantone shade of the yr might have additionally been named ‘landlord particular.’” One other referenced Sydney Sweeney’s controversial American Eagle jean advert, tweeting, “Pantone has nice denims.”
Pantone, in the meantime, doubled down. Throughout a webinar on December 4, the colour authority framed Cloud Dancer as “a tonic to the busyness of recent life,” designed for “respite and reduction from emotional and bodily stimulation” within the midst of “a cacophony of noise and conflicting messages.”
Leatrice Eiseman, Government Director of the Pantone Coloration Institute, defined: “At the moment of transformation, once we are reimagining our future and our place on the earth, Cloud Dancer is a discrete white hue providing a promise of readability.”
