Pantone recently revealed its choice for the 2024 colour of the year: a soft, pinkish-orange shade named Peach Fuzz. Officially designated as Pantone 13-1023 Peach Fuzz, this colour is described by the design and colour authority as “velvety,” “gentle,” and “subtly sensual.” Pantone, renowned for its colour-matching system established in the 1960s, utilizes a distinctive chip format to categorize and arrange hues. The Pantone Color Institute, operated by the company, is pivotal in selecting the year’s colour and engaging in colour trend forecasting research.
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Pantone Colour Of The Year 2024 | Peach Fuzz
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 colour 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 marks Pantone’s 25th colour of the year. The annual announcements, commencing in 1999, aim to “engage the design community and colour enthusiasts around the world in a conversation around colour,” as stated by Laurie Pressman, the vice president of the Pantone Color Institute. Each year, a team of colour experts scrutinizes movies, art, fashion, design, travel destinations, technologies, and more to discern the prevailing colours shaping the world. Utilizing forecasting tools, colour psychology research, and various sources, they meticulously narrow the options to a single colour that they believe sets the tone for the upcoming year.
Peach Fuzz exhibits a more subdued tone compared to the previous year’s selection, a vibrant pink-red hue named Viva Magenta. However, the ambience in 2023 differed significantly, as Leatrice Eiseman notes in a conversation with CNN’s Leah Dolan, describing how Pantone “celebrated coming out of the malaise of the last year.” The choice of Viva Magenta aimed to evoke a sense of verve, power, and grace as the world emerged from the pandemic and navigated ongoing social unrest, as articulated by NPR’s Rachel Treisman in the previous year.
As we step into 2024, Peach Fuzz is introduced at a moment, described by Angelica Villa in ARTnews as arriving “at a dark time amid a tumultuous war and a tense election year.” According to Eiseman, this more subdued hue is intentionally chosen to mirror the “need for some quiet, some peace, some respite,” as conveyed to CNN.
Anticipating its presence in various products throughout the year, from rugs, wallpaper, fabric, and makeup, to tea, these items align with Pantone’s official announcement. Already making waves in the world of fashion, notable personalities like Taylor Swift and the Rock have embraced Peach Fuzz at various events, as highlighted by USA Today’s Emily DeLetter. Jeremy Allen, the art director for the New York Times Styles Desk, observes, “It feels like another rediscovered neutral that’s meant to seep its way into every surface of our lives,” during a discussion with colleagues.