Pantone chose white as colour of the year: resistance to plurality, or quiet emblem of hope?

Last week, Pantone announced its annual Colour of the Year 2026, Cloud Dancer. Following Mocha Mousse and Peach Fuzz, Cloud Dancer, a not particularly distinctive shade of off-white, has been mostly met with outrage (we did witness a few people burning Pantone charts on social media).

Described by Pantone as 'a lofty white whose aerated presence acts as a whisper of calm and peace in a noisy world,' Cloud Dancer has certainly made noise, as designers and curators shared their views on the choice. We spoke to a design curator and colour and textile designer to find out why we should embrace or reject Pantone 11-4201.

Pantone colour of the year 2026: Cloud Dancer and the meaning of white

Design curator Priya Khanchandani (formerly of the Design Museum) took to social media to dissect the shade, explaining why she found it a particularly inappropriate colour choice for the times we are living in. Kandachani also cites Chromaphobia by David Batchelor, who claims that western society has long had a problem with colour, treating it, among other things, as infantile, feminine, or kitsch - rejection of colour, she concludes, is not just aesthetic, it's ideological.

'Colour is how we express feeling and identity. It’s often the first aesthetic claim any of us make. My toddler came home the other day and said, with total conviction, 'My favourite colour is ORANGE!' I’ve yet to hear a toddler say their favourite colour is white, and that tells you something,' she said.

'White has its own elegance, for sure. But at a time when white nationalism is on the rise in the UK, and when long-fought attempts to broaden representation are being rolled back, choosing white as the colour of the year feels tone-deaf. After all the rejection of colour isn’t just aesthetic; it’s ideological. It’s a resistance to plurality. This could have been a moment to celebrate colour, not white.'

Textile and colour designer Margrethe Odgaard, meanwhile, was captivated by the choice. 'Choosing a white as Colour of the Year might seem conservative at first, but Cloud Dancer is far from a blank or industrial hue,' she shared with Wallpaper*. 'It is a white that asks for awareness.'

The specific hue intrigued Odgaard: a shade described by Pantone as 'a scaffolding for the colour spectrum', it is meant as a blank canvas for colour to shine. 'Its warm, creamy tone reminds me of the soft yet present glow of lime whites, and its warmth helps shadows stay alive in spatial contexts,' continues Odgaard. 'To me, the choice of Cloud Dancer is a gentle reminder to move away from the idea of pure, calibrated whites and to embrace hues that connect us to the earth. It draws our attention to whites that invite sensing rather than thinking.

Uchronia's Julien Sebban, whose interior and product design work is often based on multi-layered palettes, has recently worked with Pantone on a celadon green suite at the Mandarin Oriental Hyde Park. 'I must admit I was quite surprised to see the new Colour of the Year announced as white,' he told us.

'White feels like a neutral starting point rather than a colour in itself – a background rather than a statement. Choosing black or white as a “colour of the year” seems, to me, to say something deeper about our current global mindset: a move toward neutrality, uniformity, and risk-taking. The growing dominance of an international beige aesthetic can feel a little sad, underwhelming, especially at a time when creativity, diversity, and boldness feel more necessary than ever.'

An interesting take on white is also shared by Giulio Ridolfo, the designer behind some of the most successful textiles and chromatic palettes in contemporary design. There are many uses of white that come to mind during our conversation on the colour: white as a sign of widowhood across India, white as a base for ceramics, the colour of light, the snow and the way it's described across Russian literature, Chanel's use of white across its nail polish collection, the costume designs for the movie Picnic at Hanging Rock - the list could go on.

'White has always accompanied me throughout my life, there are moments when you can't be without white, like you can't live without black,' he told us. 'White is a fast wheel, that's why I prefer to call it biancore (whiteness).'

A colour designer by trade, he admits to steer clear of Pantone's pre-defined colours, preferring to find his preferred hues and references in nature. 'Two whites are my favourite: the colour of Greek islands, and the natural pigments found across the KT paint catalogues.'

'Beyond its visual appearance, white has long symbolised peace across cultures, from the white flag to rituals and ceremonies,' continues Odgaard. 'On a personal note, I also like to read the choice of Cloud Dancer as a quiet emblem of hope in a world torn apart by conflict.'