THE COLOR OF THE YEAR 2026: CLOUD DANCER

Pantone chooses white as the color of the year 2026

White is something special in color theory. This is why white is referred to as a non-color, an achromatic color or an absolute color

The color white is only created in equilibrium

On the monitors you are reading this article on, white is created by a balance of the colors red, blue and yellow. Whenever the light mixture of these three colors reaches exactly 255 degrees, we see an area that we perceive as white.

We can therefore easily understand the color choice 2026 of the global color institute Pantone: In a world in which almost nothing appears to be in balance, there is a great longing for calm, space and equilibrium. And this is exactly what the color white conveys.

White in all its facets

Anyone looking for a color for their own home or other applications will quickly notice that there is a large proportion of white tones, which are created by the ratio of the admixture of red, blue and yellow.

Little Greene, the English paint manufacturer with whom we have had several good experiences with wall paints, offers 35 shades of white, while Farrow & Ball, whose highly pigmented paints can also be found in some rooms in our home, offers 38 shades of white.

When it comes to naming, Pantone is ahead of the game in this case: is there a name for a shade of white that sounds more ethereal and lighter than Cloud Dancer?

One immediately associates the elegance and weightlessness of the world’s best dancers and sees oneself lying in the summer grass looking up at a blue sky with white clouds.

A blank canvas

This is how Pantone describes the color Cloud Dancer and goes on to say that Cloud Dancer expresses the desire for “a future without abundance”.

It is somewhat ironic that in the same breath Pantone lists cooperation partners such as the Mandarin Oriental hotel group, whose hotel in Shenzhen offers “adorable white chocolate penguins”. We prefer the original Kumo Cloud Cake at the Mandarin Oriental Tokyo.

It is clear that Pantone is not an esoteric offering but a global corporation that picks up on trends and developments in society, art and interior design and tries to express these moods with the choice of a color.

With this in mind, we find the color choice of Cloud Dancer compelling this year. Pantone says that the color Cloud Dancer expresses the “growing desire for contentment, peace, connection and harmony”. Who doesn’t long for a fair peace for Ukraine, who doesn’t wish for more freedom in Iran?

Illusion and source of power

GIFTS: STILL LOOKING?

However, in order not to succumb to naivety or give in to weak arguments, we all need strength. And white always manages to recharge our inner reserves. Who can escape the magic of thick white snowflakes when the world seems to stand still for seconds?

A snow-covered mountain landscape acts as a place of power

Empty canvases, or in this case a white canvas, have a strong power. Artists such as Lee Ufan, Kandinsky, Cy Twombly and many others have recognized this. We all feel it when we free ourselves from unnecessary ballast and experience soothing simplicity.