Pantone picks Illuminating and Ultimate Grey as colours of 2021; choices 'reflect strength and hope during pandemic'

The popular US-based paint brand Pantone is here with its choice for colours of 2021. According to the firm, next year will see Ultimate Grey and Illuminating yellow to rule the trends of fashion, graphic and interior designers, and more.

The official Twitter handle of the American company said that PANTONE 17-5104 Ultimate Gray and PANTONE 13-0647 Illuminating were selected as they represent “a marriage of color conveying a message of strength and hopefulness that is both enduring and uplifting”.

PANTONE 17-5104 Ultimate Gray + PANTONE 13-0647 Illuminating, a marriage of color conveying a message of strength and hopefulness that is both enduring and uplifting.
Visit https://t.co/Tskl0gMXYB to discover more.#Pantone #pantone2021 pic.twitter.com/utJ0sceAA9

— PANTONE (@pantone) December 9, 2020

The Pantone Color Institute had selected Classic Blue as the official colour of 2020, before coronavirus took over the world and the classic blue scrub and face mask became the identity of humanity fighting against the fatal virus. In contrast, Pantone believes 2021 will be more colorful and will have a positive effect on the mind as well as the wardrobe. The choices have not managed to convince the Twitterati though. While some have tagged it to be symbols for hi-vis vests and road markings, others have simply called them “ugly”. One user even went ahead to express their frustration by saying the choice of colours “is a devastatingly abysmal reflection of capitalism, screaming sickly urban melancholy, a brutalist facade, cold sunshine and cement”.

PANTONE® color of the year 2021 aesthetics pic.twitter.com/SQPTOllRPg

— girl who is “going to be okay” (@caiofall) December 9, 2020

pantone revealing “ultimate grey" and “illuminating yellow” as the colour duo of the year is a devastatingly abysmal reflection of capitalism, screaming sickly urban melancholy, a brutalist facade, cold sunshine and cement. in this essay I will.....

— undercover b00p (@glitchbitttch) December 9, 2020

One user mixed the two colours to get a “sludgy diarrhoea hue”.

If you mix together #Pantone's two colours for 2021 you end up with this sludgy diarrhoea hue.

I've tentatively labelled this 'Absolute Shitshow'. pic.twitter.com/29Z0x4b8kg

— Todd Atticus (@ToddAtticus) December 10, 2020

As Vogue  points out , the two chosen colours have already been ‘in’ as visible in the spring/ summer 2021 collections of renowned designers such as Prada, Jacquemus, Gucci, Balmain and Givenchy. This is also only the second time that Pantone has selected two colours as the official colour of a year, having chosen Pantone 15-3919 Serenity and Pantone 13-1520 Rose Quartz in the year 2016.

Speaking to the publication, Laurie Pressman, vice president of the Pantone Color Institute, said while conducting the research for the colours, they noticed “deepening understanding across the generations of how much we need each other”. So the choice speaks for the “connection to other people that gives us the fortitude and hope, which are essential for us to move forward”.