Cloud Dancer is the Pantone 2026 colour

After the much-anticipated Spotify Wrapped, the Pirelli calendar by photographer Sølve Sundsbø, and the Lavazza calendar by Alex Webb, Pantone too is ushering in the new year with the announcement of the hue that will define 2026.

Cloud Dancer, “a billowy, balanced white imbued with a feeling of serenity,” is the color that, according to the U.S. company known for the Pantone Matching System, we will be seeing everywhere—or perhaps have already started noticing.

Leatrice Eiseman, executive director of the Pantone Color Institute

Founded as a small printing company and acquired in 1962 by Lawrence Herbert, Pantone has evolved into a global benchmark not only for color classification but also for the creation of trends that cut across every language of design, from interiors to fast fashion.

We saw this with the 2025 Color of the Year, Mocha Mousse, a warm brown that dictated interior-design trends and was quickly renamed “Millennial Beige” or “Boomer Brown” by Gen Z on social media.

This year, the choice is more subtle and also more symbolic: Pantone 11-4201 Cloud Dancer, a white that is not “just” a white, but a generational antidote to overstimulation and confusion. “At this time of transformation, when we are reimagining our future and our place in the world,” explains Leatrice Eiseman, Executive Director of the Pantone Color Institute, “Pantone 11-4201 Cloud Dancer is a discrete hue offering a promise of clarity.” It is the first building block for creating a “quiet room” amid the visual and sonic chaos of the world. Revealing the color is, not by chance, a video showing a young woman dancing among brilliant white clouds on a New York rooftop, isolated and far from the frenzy of the city. Like her, Pantone too is taking a break from color this year.

A break from color, but not from partnerships. Collaborations between Pantone and other brands are multiplying, aiming to translate Cloud Dancer into a network of experiences and objects for every taste. From home fragrances created by Pura and the furniture collection by Joybird to the neutral Post-it notes by 3M and the special edition of the Motorola Edge 70 smartphone embellished with Swarovski crystals, Cloud Dancer enters daily life through tangible, recognizable products. In the campaign video, Gia Bella’s choreography and Tommy Saint’s musical composition interpret the meditative character of this billowy white, while Emiliano Ponzi designs a limited-edition tote bag and Monotype develops a typographic expression of the color. The Mandarin Oriental, the international luxury hotel group, also takes part with dedicated menus and spa treatments inspired by Cloud Dancer, offered across ten of its properties worldwide. And finally, there is Spotify, which has curated a playlist entirely dedicated to the color.

All images: Courtesy Pantone