Pantone is best known for its colour-matching system, created in the 1960s, that numbers and organises hues with a distinct chip format. The company also runs the Pantone Colour Institute, which selects the colour of the year and conducts colour trend forecasting research.
This year’s choice “echoes our innate yearning for closeness and connection,” says Leatrice Eiseman, executive director of the Pantone Color Institute, in a statement.
“We chose a color radiant with warmth and modern elegance,” she adds. “A shade that resonates with compassion, offers a tactile embrace and effortlessly bridges the youthful with the timeless.”
Peach Fuzz is Pantone’s 25th color of the year. The annual announcements began in 1999 to “engage the design community and color enthusiasts around the world in a conversation around colour,” per a statement from Laurie Pressman, the Pantone Colour Institute’s vice president.
Every year, a team of colour experts examines movies, art, fashion, design, travel destinations, technologies and more to figure out which colours are influencing the world in the current moment. They also use forecasting tools, colour psychology research and other sources to predict upcoming trends. From all that research, they narrow down the options to just one colour that they feel sets the tone for the year ahead.
Peach Fuzz is less bold than last year’s choice, a bright, pink-red shade called “Viva Magenta.” But the world felt different in 2023, when Pantone “celebrated coming out of the malaise of the last year,” as Eiseman tells CNN’s Leah Dolan. Viva Magenta was intended to evoke verve, power and grace as the world emerged from the pandemic and continued to grapple with social unrest, as NPR’s Rachel Treisman wrote last year.
Heading into 2024, however, Peach Fuzz “arrives at a dark time amid a tumultuous war and a tense election year,” as Angelica Villa writes for ARTnews. The more muted hue is meant to reflect the “need for some quiet, some peace, some respite,” Eiseman tells CNN.
Where will Peach Fuzz show up in 2024? Rugs, wallpaper, fabric, makeup, tea and more—which are all examples of products released in conjunction with Pantone’s announcement. The colour is already showing up in fashion, with celebrities like Taylor Swift and the Rock wearing Peach Fuzz to various events, notes USA Today’s Emily DeLetter.
“It feels like another rediscovered neutral that’s meant to seep its way into every surface of our lives,” said Jeremy Allen, the art director for the New York Times Styles Desk, in a conversation with colleagues.