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Pantone has unveiled ‘Cloud Dancer’ as its much-anticipated Color of the Year for 2026, describing the shade as the “perfect blank slate” for the world of fashion, interiors and design.
Laurie Pressman, vice president of the Pantone Color Institute, said: “As we enter 2026, it’s become clear that this is an evolution – a transitional time. People are questioning everything: what we believe, how we want to live, where we want to live.”
He said that the collective feeling of being “overcommitted and overstimulated” has given rise to a widespread “craving for relief – less noise, less fuss, more simplicity”.
This desire for lightness has been a consistent theme in recent selections.
Pressman highlights the importance of color names, saying: “Every color has a name – and that name matters. Change the name, and you change the emotional response.”
He referenced 2024’s ‘Peach Fuzz’, which had “a whiter, lighter feel because people wanted lightness”.
Similarly, last year’s ‘Mocha Mousse’ “wasn’t dark brown; it was light brown – airy, soft, light – because we didn’t want to carry the heaviness with us”.
Beginning in 1999, Pantone’s Color of the Year was created to engage the world in a shared dialogue about color.
“The goal was to really start a color conversation, to highlight the connection between color and culture, because the colors we associate with reflect what’s happening in the world at a moment in time,” says Pressman.
Introducing ‘Cloud Dancer’
That trajectory continues this year as well. Leatrice Eiseman, executive director of the Pantone Color Institute, says Cloud Dancer is “oozing with peace – a calming influence in a frantic society”.
“We are looking forward to a future free of toxicity and excess,” she says.
“Cloud Dancer evokes our desire for satisfaction and harmony – a feeling of peace, unity and togetherness.
“It is a color that allows us to rise above the clouds, free ourselves from the noise and make a fresh start.”
So, how do you wear Cloud Dancer?
Styling this color isn’t difficult, as we’ll undoubtedly all have a neutral white piece in our wardrobes, but the institute says the silhouette and fabric finish are integral to pulling it off in 2026.
“Fashion featuring Cloud Dancer has a billowy softness to it — weightless, light and serene,” says Eiseman.
She talks about the rise of minimalism on red carpets – take her recent monochromatic look on the Fashion Awards carpet: With sienna miller, sharon stoneAlexa Chung and Kylie Minogue are all decked out in color.
Here, fabric finishes like net, silk and satin have made the outfit attractive. “Soft sheen fabrics create changing shades — lighter and darker shades than you can only get with white,” says Eiseman, which is the key to styling this color in the new year.
“Weightlessness is the key,” she says, “Round shapes, cocooning layers, warm and cozy yet light.”
It makes sense, given the year’s bubble hem and balloon pant trends, that capacious and fluid silhouettes are only becoming more popular.
The institute says designers will lean toward shape rather than pattern.
“Vasy silhouettes work beautifully because the simplicity of the palette allows the lines to be exaggerated,” says Eiseman.
“We’re seeing diaphanous, floaty, fluid fabrics—from organza and lightweight silk on the body to billowy, cloud-like drapery.”
How will this manifest in the trends of 2026?
You could argue that this year’s color is arguably more of a shade than a color, so what else was in the running?
“This whole idea of rest and relaxation, definitely a piece that could play with the blues, but it was about simplicity and making our lives more simple, uncluttered, getting rid of all those distractions,” says Pressman.
The idea of simplifying and returning to comfortable staples is what led to the choice of Cloud Dancer.
,[It’s] “A little nostalgic,” says Iceman. “We might as well stop seeing it in go-go boots again. I have no doubt that this shoe will be a trend.”
Other vintage trends that Pantone experts predict will return are icy eyeshadow from the nineties and white liner from the sixties.
“We find solace in that color,” says Eiseman, “even in the beauty realm, you know, it’s the way to go with white eye makeup.” I mean we haven’t seen anything like this since eyeliner in the sixties.
It seems that this color will appear more in the familiar than in the avant-garde, predicting that sixties trends could make a comeback in 2026.
Massimo Dutti Silk Blend Blouse with Tie Detail, £149
M&S Contrast Tie Neck Frill Sleeve Lace Detail Top, £36
Arquette bubble-hem trousers, £95
Bimba y Lola Ivory Fur Tote Bag, £140