The sweet and soft hue marks the 25th anniversary of the Pantone Color of the Year program.
With all of the color predictions rolling in at the end of the year, perhaps the most anticipated one is Pantone’s Color of the Year—Pantone is considered the leading global color authority across various industries after all. The world collectively holds its breath for the announcement, and now we can all exhale, because they just revealed their Color of the Year 2024, Peach Fuzz, a sherbet-like orange hue. The sweet and soft shade is a vast departure from last year’s color, Viva Magenta, a bold and dramatic crimson red.
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Peach Fuzz is supposed to be “a compassionate and nurturing soft peach shade conveying a heartfelt kindness,” Pantone states in their announcement. We’re living in a period that’s rife with turmoil and controversy, and the velvety, pastel color is the brand’s response to this. The softness of the shade connotes peacefulness and the hope for a more caring and collaborative future.
Laurie Pressman, vice president of the Pantone Color Institute, says, “We see an increased focus on community and people across the world reframing how they want to live and evaluating what is important—that being the comfort of being close to those we love. The color is one whose warm and welcoming embrace conveys a message of compassion and whose cozy sensibility brings people together and enriches the soul.” We have to agree—it has a nurturing and calming aura, for sure!
Another element Peach Fuzz unexpectedly brings to the table is tactility—”fuzz” introduces an extra sensory angle and plays into the “soft” quality the color communicates. “An idea as much as a feeling, PANTONE 13-1023 Peach Fuzz awakens our senses to the comforting presence of tactility and cocooned warmth,” says Leatrice Eiseman, executive director of the Pantone Color Institute.
A Little Background on Pantone’s Color of the Year
If you’re curious about when Pantone selects their Color of the Year, they shared with Real Simple that they do copious research starting at the beginning of the year. So for example, for their 2024 shade, they started doing their homework in very early 2023. As for how they select the color, Pantone takes a very comprehensive approach to the process. They take a step back and look at the zeitgeist to see what’s trending. (They mentioned colors similar to Peach Fuzz were all spotted at the Met Gala, for example.) The brand also confirmed they do lots of color-word association studies to inform their decision. Their Color of the Year program has been running for 25 years now. Fun fact: the very first color was Cerulean Blue, announced in 1999!
Leslie Corona is the Senior Home Editor at REAL SIMPLE magazine. She has been styling, organizing, writing, and reporting on all things in the home space for a decade. She was previously at Good Housekeeping, HGTV Magazine, and Parents. She has shared her expertise on the TODAY show, Cheddar, and local television news outlets.
To see the original article by Leslie Corona visit Real Simple