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Hello! I'm so eager to learn what color will define 2026. What's the scoop?

Get ready, because every year beginning in 1999, Pantone chooses a Color of the Year. This selection seeks to represent the zeitgeist—informing everything from our emotions and fashion choices to how we design our living spaces. 2025's color was the rich tan "a coffee-inspired shade," following the soft and warm "a delicate peach tone."

The new choice, however, is even more puzzling. It is "a billowy white," which Pantone calls a "soft and structural white."

Laurie Pressman, the vice president of the Pantone Color Institute, remarked that it is "a pivotal neutral tone … enabling all colors to be highlighted."

Hmm, Cloud Dancer… wait, white? Are they joking? Does white qualify as a proper color?

Can you even characterize the shade of milk? Milk? While people often think of white as a color, every hue is fundamentally a perception of light wavelengths. You can find it in a box of crayons, so in everyday terms the answer is yes.

Whether Pantone is being provocative is more difficult to ascertain. According to their release, Cloud Dancer pairs effortlessly with other colors, avoids sensory overload, embodies understated style, and exudes subtle elegance.

Responses from critics, in contrast, has not been as kind. A number of observers have suggested Pantone of being completely "tone-deaf." Style expert Mandy Lee described it as "underwhelming." Critics have compared it with coded promotion of controversial ideas seen in popular culture.

Okay, it's to be hoped they're blissfully unaware that now is a sensitive time to be explicitly championing whiteness... Anyway, how should I not exactly adjacent to a catwalk incorporate this news in my world? I recently coated my kitchen ceiling white, does that qualify?

That definitely qualifies. So would your white headphones, bathtub, or ceramic plate.

The timing is curious you mention fashion shows, since many recent shows have been exceptionally bright, featuring eco-friendly fabrics on the runway.

The color white featured prominently, like always, in designer collections—from simple silk T-shirts to sleek suits. Celebrities and public figures have also been seen in monochromatic white ensembles at major events.

On the bright side is: you likely already have pieces in this "understated" color of the year. In the words of Pressman, Cloud Dancer "signifies a eco-friendlier decision for the environmentally aware," which might translate to skipping the requirement for fresh products at all.

FINALLY, a fashion trend for the truly minimalist. An empty canvas, so to speak. A sanctuary of calming neutrality within the clutter. Okay, I get it. Are you planning a monochrome palette for your closet?

Definitely not. Have you ever tried to get out tomato sauce stains from a white shirt? I'm not seeking additional cleaning headaches in 2026.

I do have a pair of once-white Birkenstocks, and those remain perpetually fashionable.