Pantone 2026 Color of the Year is Pearly White
Pantone 2026 Color of the Year is Pearly White
Pantone®, the global color authority and provider of professional color language standards and digital solutions for the design community, today introduced PANTONE 11-4201 Cloud Dancer, a billowy white imbued with a feeling of serenity, as the Pantone Color of the Year selection for 2026. An ethereal white hue, PANTONE 11-4201 Cloud Dancer serves as a symbol of calming influence in a frenetic society rediscovering the value of measured consideration and quiet reflection.
Similar to a blank canvas, Cloud Dancer signifies our desire for a fresh start. Peeling away layers of outmoded thinking, we open the door to new approaches. Cloud Dancer quiets the mind, encouraging true relaxation and focus that allows the mind to wander and creativity to breathe, making room for innovation.
Choosing rest and consciously stepping away from relentless demands and turning inward recognizes that true strength lies not just in doing, but also in being. Expressing our aspiration for a future free from excess, Cloud Dancer evolves our desire for contentment and feelings of peace, unity, and cohesiveness.
“At this time of transformation, when we are reimagining our future and our place in the world, PANTONE 11-4201 Cloud Dancer is a discrete white hue offering a promise of clarity,” says Leatrice Eiseman, Executive Director of the Pantone Color Institute. “The cacophony that surrounds us has become overwhelming, making it harder to hear the voices of our inner selves. A conscious statement of simplification, Cloud Dancer enhances our focus, providing release from the distraction of external influences.”
“We are living in a transitional time where people are seeking truth, possibility, and a new way of living,” added Laurie Pressman, Vice President of the Pantone Color Institute. “PANTONE 11-4201 Cloud Dancer is an airy white hue that exemplifies our search for balance between our digital future and our primal need for human connection—a liminal space that is a launchpad for creative expression—as individuals and communities are experimenting beyond traditional boundaries, opening the door to increased imagination and innovation.”
2026 Pantone Color Palettes
The Pantone Color of the Year 2026, PANTONE 11-4201 Cloud Dancer, is a key structural color whose versatility provides scaffolding for the color spectrum, allowing all colors to shine. In a world where color has become synonymous with personal expression, this is a shade that can adapt, harmonize, and create contrast, bringing a feeling of airy lightness to all product applications and environments, whether making a standalone statement or combined with other hues.
2026 Palette: Powdered Pastels
Pastel and neutral tones make compatible combinations to Cloud Dancer offering subtle shifts in hue that are nuanced, pleasing, and understated.
2026 Palette: Light & Shadow
Cloud Dancer gracefully blends into a veiled palette of softened hues that ultimately dissolve into shadowy shades, producing an easy and effortless contrast in color.
Source: Pantone, www.pantone.com