Pantone’s 2026 Color of the Year Is Kind of Blank

By Rob Bates | December 04, 2025

The Pantone Color Institute’s 2026 Color of the Year is not really a color at all.

The self-described “color authority” has selected Cloud Dancer (11-4201), calling it “a symbol of calming influence in a frenetic society rediscovering the value of measured consideration and quiet reflection.”

This is the first time Pantone has chosen a white in the 26 years it’s been making these annual picks. It’s also a stark change from last year’s dark-hued Mocha Mousse.

With the flowery language it typically uses to describe its Color of the Year, Pantone said that Cloud Dancer “signifies our desire for a fresh start. Peeling away layers of outmoded thinking, we open the door to new approaches. Cloud Dancer quiets the mind, encouraging true relaxation and focus that allows the mind to wander, and creativity to breathe, making room for innovation.”

In a statement, Pantone vice president Laurie Pressman said the “airy white hue…exemplifies our search for balance between our digital future and our primal need for human connection.”

JCK’s Amy Elliott feels the jewelry industry will be “slightly disappointed” in the choice. “Pantone serves us best when it lands on greens and pinks and reds and lavenders—colors that surface in the rainbow of gemstones that inspire so many of our designers,” she says.

“Nevertheless, a silver lining to this Cloud might be that it is, in fact, signaling a reset of some kind—a ‘clean slate’ that allows us to cleanse and declutter our minds and spirits with something calming, peaceful, and neutral.

“Few of us have strong opinions about the color white,” Elliott says, noting that in jewelry, pearls are “an obvious correlate to Cloud Dancer.” But they’re always in style, she adds, so the pick is unlikely to fuel new demand.

Jennifer Heebner, editor-in-chief of the American Gem Trade Association (AGTA) publication Prism, tells JCK: “In jewelry, designers and retailers can find the Cloud Dancer color in rainbow moonstone, which has been wildly popular at the high end for several years.

“White cultured akoya and South Sea pearls are more obvious choices to get the color in inventory,” Heebner says. “Cloud Dancer is going to be easy to color-block with anything, really, and I think muted tone options like soft gray spinel, matte-finished gold jewels, or light brown diamonds paired with it will look superchic and luxe.”

Other reaction to the choice was mixed. The New York Post called it “boring.” NJ.com wrote that “the internet is not impressed” and “people want an actual color.”

In its annual roundtable to discuss Pantone’s choice, The New York Times style staff wasn’t sure what to make of the new color—or if you will, non-color.

The name “sounds like a 1980s one-hit-wonder track,” said features writer Alex Vadukul. “From a sensory point of view, I think I’m a fan. There’s something exploratory and a bit mysterious about it. Also confident.”

Times reporter Jacob Gallagher remarked: “I do understand why a blank slate might be the right pick for this moment. Culture right now is pretty darn stagnant—everything feels like a rehash of a rehash.… It’s an ideal pick for this fence-sitting period where no one wants to offend anyone.”

Commenters on Pantone’s Instagram sounded befuddled.

“I guess we’re all feeling completely uninspired these days,” wrote one.

Another said, “We used to look up to Pantone literally for some color in our lives. Now the future feels…charmless.”

(Photo courtesy of Pantone)