Pantone Reveals Colors Of The Year 2021

Photo: Prada SS21

While Pantone chose Classic Blue as the color of the year 2020, it has announced two colors to dominate next year (2021): Ultimate Gray and Illuminating.

Gray and yellow, both are officially the colors of 2021, so does that mean that fashion couldn’t decide between the sunniest of hues and the gloomiest?

After Classic Blue for 2020, American color company Pantone unveiled two colors of the year 2021 instead of one. According to the Institute, neither uncertainty nor hesitation presided over this choice: this yellow would in fact have been elected as a “warm shade imbued with solar energy”, and gray would come to encourage "feelings of coolness, stability and resilience”. Leatrice Eiseman, Director of the Pantone Institute, gives her vision of this association: “Practical and solid as a rock but at the same time warm and optimistic, it is a combination of colors that gives us resilience and hope. We need to feel encouraged and uplifted, this is essential to the human spirit”. A positive message positive in these times of turmoil by the global pandemic.

This is the 21st year that Pantone elects the color of the year to come. The first time dates back to 2000, when cerulean blue was categorized as a star color. A pigment that went so far as to give rise to a cult copy in the 2006 film The Devil Wears Prada. In the history of the winners, there is only one precedent of co-winners: to see two colors elected together, we have to go back to 2016, at the dawn of the referendum vote on Brexit and the coming to power by Donald Trump. While some may see this duo as a bad omen for 2021, others will be inspired by the solar and calming side of Pantone yellow 13-0647 and Pantone grey 17-5104.

Balmain Spring 2021

Brandon Maxwell Spring 2021

Versace Spring 2021

Fashion Designers Have Predicted This Choice

These two colors were already present in the spring/summer 2021 fashion shows. According to the "fashion Google" Tagwalk, yellow was for example included in the collections of Brandon Maxwell, Nina Ricci, Raf Simons and Versace. As for gray, it was spotted in thin layers at Alfie, Acne Studios, Balmain and Celine collections. Prada and Salvatore Ferragamo also offered the combination of the two shades.

Do you need more proof that these two hues are trendy and stylish? No and neither us. So let’s say yes to gray and yellow next year, and hope to say goodbye to negativity as much as possible. Better still, these colors will bring a breath of freedom and creativity to our wardrobe. To properly wear the "Ultimate gray" and "Illuminating" which represent "a marriage of strength and optimism", Pantone specifies that "they do not have to be used in equal proportions.” An invitation to compose your personal suggestion for the balance between the two colors of 2021.