🔗 Share this article

For anyone who has spent a long time living in rental properties, staring at the same standard-issue beige walls and dreaming of injecting personal style to their home, Pantone's new Colour of the Year might feel like a personal attack.

This year, the renowned color company has chosen a shade of white as its flagship hue.

To be precise, the shade is called Cloud Dancer – a white touted as "elevated" and "airy" which "serves as a emblem of tranquility in a society rediscovering the importance of introspection".

It represents the initial instance a pure white has been honored as the Colour of the Year, and it has sparked considerable debate.

According to Pantone, Cloud Dancer "represents more than a hue, it's a state of being" and embodies a shared desire to slow down, recalibrate and achieve serenity after years of sensory saturation.

But some detractors have labelled the decision as "insensitive", arguing that elevating sparse and immaculate white spaces can seem disconnected from the more compact, lived-in homes everyday individuals occupy.

Additional critics propose that presenting white as aspirational carries subtext related to race, causing discomfort during current societal conversations about inclusion and diversity.

Soothing or Stark?

Interior expert One design critic says the criticism goes beyond aesthetics, noting that white holds societal connotations and is seldom a neutral choice.

"The color white sends a message," he says, shaped by a decade of minimalist celebrity interiors – most famously Kim Kardashian's stripped-back home – that came to epitomize "wealth, order and distance from chaos".

He clarifies that white is "not about inspiration but being careful not to cause upset", with Cloud Dancer personifying "austerity, virtuous simplicity and the notion that impartiality equals goodness".

The designer cites the pandemic as a turning point in how people perceive their homes.

"Overnight they transformed into our offices, refuges and emotional anchors," he says, noting that against this backdrop, pushing the Colour of the Year towards "more aesthetic barrenness seems rather disconnected".

Rather than offering calm, he believes white now risks intensifying "a sense of bleakness", particularly when paired with harsh, sterile lighting.

'Hospital Vibes'

Lara Clark, a UK-based design expert, concurs and says Cloud Dancer "is not perceived as a colour" and is "firmly in the bin for me".

While it may suit extremely sparse or structural spaces, she says pure white shades seldom create calm in everyday living spaces.

"An image of tranquility in a styled shoot can readily feel clinical at home," she explains.

"The color white may seem stark and demanding and you wouldn't wish your home to emit a medical atmosphere."

She adds that "homes should elicit happiness and feel warm and lived-in, and this hue feels quite removed from that."

The critic expresses a desire that homeowners will disregard the Pantone Colour of the Year in preference for "unabashed joyful interior design", using colour to express personality.

A representative of the Pantone Colour Institute commented that people "bring different feelings" to the significance of the colour, but it was selected as it "works seamlessly with everything around it, providing a sophisticated impartiality that seems deliberate and adaptable".

Since its launch in 2000, Pantone's Colour of the Year has become a significant industry signal.

Previous selections have included the hopefulness of Living Coral, the serene assurance of a deep blue, the vibrancy of a bold pink-red, and more recently softer, feeling-based tones like a soft peach.

These colours extend beyond trend forecasts - they appear in fashion collections, cosmetic products, home decor, packaging and even consumer electronics, shaping how products are sold and how consumers imagine the coming year.

A style and trend expert, says Cloud Dancer is a "elegant choice" and while it may appear basic, "this particular shade feels gentle and elegant rather than stark".

Contrary to those who say the colour is dull, Robinson sees it as "flexible" and says it's best used in "sleeping quarters and living areas where you want a peaceful, calming atmosphere".

"Should you don't want to repaint, you can incorporate the colour into a room with pillows, blankets and drapes."

Design expert Another professional says although he was surprised that Pantone's selection this year was "fundamentally the lack of pigment", it is a bit like a basic flavor, in that "everyone likes it but it's not a top choice".

He can see its merits, explaining that white can work particularly well as a backdrop for architectural details like panelling and curved entries which is a "growing trend in contemporary houses".

In apparel, white has long been a basic rather than a statement and as a Colour of the Year it poses a different challenge to designers more accustomed to bold shades.

Luxury stylist A styling expert says elevating white feels "less about novelty and more concerned with purpose", reflecting a shift towards refinement after years of trend overloads.

"White forces designers and wearers alike to focus on shape, proportion and craftsmanship, there's really no room for error," she clarifies.

But she continues that it also carries presumptions around body confidence, way of life and privilege, saying: "If white is viewed as something only a limited subset of people can pull off, it becomes divisive."

She says the industry is already cognizant of the problematic connotations tied to lauding white as an aspirational standard, particularly amid ongoing discussions about representation and approachability, and the real test will be whether "brands address that complexity honestly, or simply glamorize the colour".

A Societal Shift, Not a Fad

Style consultant Katie Malik concedes the choice at first surprised her, given Pantone's track record of vibrant hues, but says it reflects a genuine shift and fits within a broader sentiment of "quiet luxury