Image source: Getty / Oxygen
Pantone’s color of the year is here, making a bold statement as we turn the corner into 2023. Viva Magenta 18-1750 was selected this year as “a new animated red that revels in pure joy and encourages experimentation and self-expression without restraint”, according to Pantone’s announcement. And it’s no surprise that Lizzo was ahead of the curve at the Emmys this year in her frilly red dress.
“In this age of technology, we seek inspiration from nature and what is real,” says Leatrice Eiseman, executive director of the Pantone Color Institute, said in a statement. “PANTONE 18-1750 Viva Magenta comes from the red family and is inspired by the red of the cochineal, one of the most valuable dyes in the natural dye family as well as one of the strongest and brightest known in the world.”
An unconventional shade for an unconventional time:
a new vision. Color of the Year 2023: PANTONE 18-1750 Viva MagentaA hue vibrant with panache and vigour, rooted in nature and derived from the red family, reveals a new signal of strength.https://t.co/vxEQlBykRT#Pantone pic.twitter.com/pRIP6bI2NH
— PANTONE (@pantone) December 2, 2022
This vibrant color is a departure from the more reserved color choices of recent years, most notably 2022’s Very Peri – a soft, muted hue from the blue family – and 2021’s Ultimate Gray, which embodied many people’s feelings during COVID lockdowns.
Pantone has been a giant in the art, design and color industries since the 1960s, developing technology to achieve color-consistent products in product design, fashion, beauty and graphics. The Pantone Color Institute forecasts annual trends, including the Color of the Year and Fashion Runway Color Trend Reports – and this year the color looks fresh, hopeful and cheerful.
Here’s to 2023 in the Magentaverse!