Pantone Picks White as 2026's Color of the Year

Pantone has named its 2026 Color of the Year, and for the first time, it's white. In a news release, Pantone described the shade dubbed "Cloud Dancer" as an "ethereal white hue" and a "whisper of calm in a noisy world" that is meant to represent a blank canvas and a sense of possibility.

• The Washington Post reports the choice is notable for its timing, as white is considered out of step with today's design trends: warm '90s colors are back, minimalism is fading, and neutral tones are out of favor. Leatrice Eiseman, executive director of the Pantone Color Institute, explains that the selection isn't about "defaulting to white," but rather about opening up new possibilities. The Post notes that white isn't technically a color at all.

• "It's certainly a conspicuous choice following a year in which DEI programs have been dismantled and the party in power has been debating how friendly to be with a white nationalist," says Callie Holtermann at the New York Times. "That may not be what Pantone means by "peace, unity and cohesiveness," but I have to imagine it will come up for some viewers."
• Holtermann describes the shade as "flavorless"—the "color of cottage cheese and dental floss, of marshmallows and AirPods." Fellow Styles desk reporter Alex Vadukul, however, is a fan. "There's something exploratory and a bit mysterious about it. Also confident," he says. "I see it as a kind of attitude-heavy white, if a not exactly welcoming white. Maybe even a bit of James Dean to it."

• Jose Criales-Unzueta at Vanity Fair also finds it an odd choice amid DEI rollbacks and immigration crackdowns. "The whole thing sounds like it was lifted from a late-night show comedy skit," he writes. "If this were a script for a show like, say, The Office, this would be the time in which we'd break the fourth wall to look directly into the camera, bemused."
• Pantone exec Laurie Pressman, another Pantone exec, says Cloud Dancer is a flexible color that works with anything, from brights to pastels. Pressman pushed back against the idea that skin tone factored in, saying questions of skin tone pop up every year, the Post reports. "With Peach Fuzz and then with Mocha Mousse, people were weighing in and asking if this was about skin tones," she says. "And I think we were going, 'Wow, really?' Because for us it's really about, at such a basic level, what are people looking for that color can hope to answer?"