PANTONE’s Color of the Year: 2000 through present

Each year since 2000, Pantone has chosen a color from their Fashion + Home (formerly known as the PANTONE Textile Color System) collection to represent a “Color of the Year” that is derived from fashion and culture trends.  From Wikipedia:

“Annually Pantone declares a particular color “Color of the Year”. Twice a year the company hosts, in a European capital, a secret meeting of representatives from various nations’ color standards groups. After two days of presentations and debate, they choose a color for the following year; for example, the color for summer 2013 was chosen in London in the spring of 2012.  The color purportedly connects with the zeitgeist; for example the press release declaring Honeysuckle the color of 2011 said “In times of stress, we need something to lift our spirits. Honeysuckle is a captivating, stimulating color that gets the adrenaline going – perfect to ward off the blues.”

Pantone has said that color “has always been an integral part of how a culture expresses the attitudes and emotions of the times.” Colors of the 1960s were chosen in conjunction with the rise of youth culture, counterculture and social revolution; including Hot Pink (17-1937), Vermillion Orange (16-1362), Grass Green (15-6437), Lemon Chrome (13-0859), Cyan Blue (16-4529) and Bright Violet (19-3438). Recession and growing environmental awareness in the 1970s brought “earthy colors” like Avocado (18-0430), Burnt Sienna (17-1544), Carafe (19-1116), Harvest Gold (16-0948), Rust (18-1248) and Corsair (19-4329). MTV, and similar cultural influences, and economic upturn are responsible for the more vibrant colors of the 1980s; Lavendula (15-3620), Radiant Orchid (18-3244, also color of the year in 2014), Mauve Orchid (16-2111), Ribbon Red (19-1663), Royal Blue (19-3955) and Rose Violet (17-2624). The 1990s, with rise of graffiti, grunge and zen, saw the colors Overcast (14-0105), Lead Gray (17-1118), Oasis (16-0540), Super Lemon (14-0754), Firecracker (16-1452) and Scuba Blue (16-4725).”

Here are the individual Colors of the Year – shown using Cotton swatches:

+ – indicates derived values