It Promises to be More Than “In the Pink”
It’s a first for Pantone: The 2016 Color of the Year is actually a blending of TWO colors: Rose Quartz pink and Serenity blue. Never before has the world-renowned Pantone Color Institute chosen two colors to celebrate in the same year.
Reminiscent of a the softness and serenity of a sunset, the blended pink of the Rose Quartz and the soft blue of Serenity offer a “soothing sense of order and peace” as an antidote to modern day stresses, according to Leatrice Eiseman, Executive Director for the Pantone Institute. In a world seemingly gone mad, “consumers seek mindfulness and well being” in their surroundings. The blended palette offers “welcoming colors that psychologically fulfill our yearning for reassurance and security.”
“Colors this season transport us to a happier, sunnier place where we feel free to express a wittier version of our real selves.” ~ Leatrice Eiseman
The blended color(s) also provides a welcome balance between the warm tone of pink with the cool tone of blue, challenging “traditional perceptions of color associations,” says Eiseman. Pink is no longer looked upon as a strictly feminine color and blue is no longer reminiscent of the masculine.
“This more unilateral approach to color is coinciding with societal movements toward gender quality and fluidity,” Eiseman notes. The blend of the cool and warm, masculine and feminine, is also evidence of younger consumers’ increased comfort with using color as a form of expression and proof that they have less concern about being typecast or gender judged than their parents’ generation. Recent evidence of gender blending finds actor Will Smith’s son Jaden wearing a skirt in the new Louis Vuitton women’s wear ads.
All fashions shown are from Nordstrom.
The fashion runways were rife with these new hues. Chanel put Rose Quartz and Serenity in its haute couture collection in the fall of 2015. Prada did the same for spring and summer 2015, as did Fendi. Roberto Cavalli used the two tones together for men on the spring 2016 runways. And Valentino showed pale pink athletic-inspired shoes with a stripe of Serenity for men.
Not only does the Color of the Year bring about a sense of balance, harmony and unity, so do its accompanying hues. That palette includes reflective, escapist colors such as soft pastel hues in greens, blues, lavenders, butter yellows and soft neutral beiges and taupes.
Along with these calming, meditative hues is an equally non-calming palette inspired by artists known for bold color usage and strong shapes and lines, artists such as Matisse, Picasso and Frank Stella. These bolder, more courageous hues are being ushered in by the opening of new global doors to Cuba and south-of-the-border destinations.
These two seemingly unisex palettes, vividly bright and softly reassuring, offer us a dash of excitement and optimism tempered with a peaceful, reflective environment. And that’s something we all desire in the new year.