PANTONE, a company known for its standardized color matching system that provides a language for color communication across industries, announced Cloud Dancer (designated color number: 11-4201) as Color of the Year 2026 on Dec. 4, 2025.
According to PANTONE’s website, Cloud Dancer is described as “a lofty white that serves as a symbol of calming influence in a society rediscovering the value of quiet reflection.” This same color is also described as “a whisper of calm in a noisy world.”
Also according to PANTONE, the purpose of Cloud Dancer is to “encourage true relaxation and focus, allowing the mind to wander and creativity to breathe, making room for innovation.” The purpose of Cloud Dancer also “invites a space where function and feeling intertwine to build atmospheres of serenity and spaciousness, providing a refuge of visual cleanliness that inspires well-being and lightness.”
However, there are critical comments from multiple users on various social media platforms, stating that this specific color is “bleak,” “boring,” not even a color and “tone deaf.” In addition, there are comments that state that Cloud Dancer is “biased” or “white washing,” considering the rise of white nationalism in the US at the time of the release. On the other hand, there are people who have agreed with PANTONE’s designation, especially wedding planners.
Juliette “Juju” Renteria, a freshman, agrees with the critical comments surrounding Cloud Dancer as PANTONE’s Color of the Year.
“I feel like the PANTONE 2026 color was kind of in poor taste compared to the [past Color of the Years],” Renteria said.
Liana Faletto, Lane Tech Printmaking teacher said, “I think it’s kind of a boring color, but it is kind of a pretty color, but it is a little lame.”
Aldrin Guerra-Cruz, a junior, also agrees with Renteria and Faletto on the boringness of PANTONE choosing Cloud Dancer as Color of the Year.
“To put it simply, [Cloud Dancer] is bland, and it kind of defeats the whole purpose of the Color of the Year,” Guerra-Cruz said. “The white form has been known for a long time to be the color of nothingness, for it to be considered Color of the Year.”
Guerra-Cruz also said that Cloud Dancer looks “kind of corporate,” with a trend in corporate minimalism, in which companies like PANTONE are trying to make their designs more appealing to their audience by simplifying them. He also said companies are “making their design language less human-like and disconnected.”
There are questions surrounding Cloud Dancer amidst controversies. Faletto questioned whether Cloud Dancer is truly a color or not, Guerra-Cruz questioned why PANTONE should “justify a blank white being the Color of the Year.”
“Why do you think this would reflect the year?” He continued questioning, “What is the
symbolism? What is the purpose? Is there even an emotion to be conveyed?”
Some have connected Cloud Dancer to the current political climate involving white nationalism and ICE raids.
Renteria, who identified as Hispanic, said, “[Cloud Dancer] seems like a dog whistle of anything, especially with stuff like the Sydney Sweeney commercial [the one with perceived eugenics undertones] that came out earlier this year, other stuff with ICE raids, and just a lot of issues regarding race.”
“[Cloud Dancer] was a little tone deaf considering the political climate,” Guerra-Cruz, who also identified as Hispanic, said. “I understand their concerns and how it be a terrible choice for a year, but it’s a pure white, like it’s not like a skin tone white.”
Renteria said, “So seeing what kind of sums up to a white supremacist, dog whistle was kind of startling, to say the best, especially with a lot of other, kind of anti-Semitic, anti-migration, xenophobic, racist comments and advertisements.”
Faletto said that people should start expressing themselves more colorfully, in order to influence PANTONE’s future Color of the Year. PANTONE might not have to designate non-rainbow colors to become the Color of the Year, and making sure this same color reflects the trend.
She said that people need to “kind of zest it up and start wearing” clothes in certain colors more often. Faletto said that people have added more vibrance to fashion and clothing. She said that people should stop looking boring with their appearance. “Why are we wearing so much cream and beige?” Faletto said.
PANTONE released a variety of items that showcased Cloud Dancer on their website: a “limited edition” mug, classic and vegan leather notebooks, long and normal-sized keychains, a “limited edition” latte cup, a cortado cup, an espresso cup, an “artist series” tote bag from Emiliano Ponzi, large paper swatches, cotton swatch cards, a plastic chip, and color guides from both Formula and Fashion Home + Interiors.
PANTONE has collaborated with various companies such as Joybird on various furniture products, Play-Doh on the Play-Doh toy, and Motorola on various technology devices, along with others, to sell more Cloud Dancer, Color of the Year 2026 products, while promoting the color itself to those who are not aware of it.
