How does Pantone decide the color of the year? And does the color of the year also affect the jewelry world?
If you’re wondering how the color of the year is decided, here’s a very short answer: it’s decided by an American company called Pantone. There’s no specific reason why, for example, blue is in fashion in 2020 rather than red or some other shade, while Cloud Dancer was chosen in 2026. The fact is that the idea of assigning a color of the year was a brilliant marketing ploy, and everyone is adapting. But let’s take it one step at a time.
The color of the year is decided by Pantone, a US company controlled by a company called X-Rite, based in Grand Rapids, Michigan. Pantone deals with graphics technologies, for example the cataloging of colors and the production of the identification system. It is not enough, in fact, to say red: as anyone who chooses a precious stone to match another knows well, a ruby can have many nuances. And so are the other gems. The same goes for fabrics, painting, or more simply for car paint.
With the aim of cataloging all the nuances, Pantone Matching System has become the international standard for graphics and is also used for color management in industry and chemistry. The parent company, X-Rite, also deals with the classification of colors and photographic material for the world of pharmaceuticals and photogrammetric surveys.
But let’s get to the color of the year. As we were saying, it’s essentially a marketing idea designed to raise awareness of the Pantone brand. The color of the year, in fact, has only existed since 2000, when the Pantone Color Institute (which is part of the company) began advertising the Color of the Year. The Pantone Color Institute includes:
- Leatrice Eiseman: Executive Director, founder, and historic head of the institute.
- Laurie Pressman: Vice President, leads creative and commercial strategy.
- David Shah: Publisher and consultant on textile and color trends.
- Keith Recker: Color specialist, author, and publisher.
- Tod Schulman: Creative Director of the team.
- Lan VU: Trends and design research expert.
- Michael Nolte: Market trend analysis and forecasting specialist.
In short, it’s all in the family.
The color is decided, as stated, through a discussion with several experts dealing with different fields. These experts meet in different cities every year and, after two days of debate, choose a color for the following year. The result of the meeting is then published in the Pantone View magazine, used by stylists and designers for their creations to be marketed the following year.
Is the color of the year really that categorical? In 2027, will blue fabrics or blue jewelery be more in demand than others? It’s all to discover. Certainly Pantone, thanks to the space conquered on internet sites and newspapers, will have accumulated another bit of notoriety.
