Following in the wake of 2025’s earthy tone, Mocha Mousse, and the soft pinkish hue of 2024’s Peach Fuzz, the ‘billowy, balanced white’ of 11-4201 Cloud Dancer has been announced by Pantone as the 2026 Colour of the Year, ‘representing a shift toward minimalism and neutrality’.
The Pantone Colour Institute has announced Pantone 11-4201 Cloud Dancer as their 2026 Colour of the Year
The Pantone Colour Institute is the global colour authority and provider of professional colour language standards and digital solutions for the design community. Every year since 1999, the institute has declared what the specific shade for the following year will be. The company has a trade-marked system for matching colours that is used in print, manufacturing, marketing and design industries to reproduce exact shades of a precise colour.
Cloud Dancer, described as a ‘soft, airy white with both warm and cool undertones, evoking a sense of calm, serenity, and renewed clarity’ is the first white ever selected as Colour of the Year.
In an interview with ABC News, Dulux's Colour & Design Manager, Lauren Treloar, admitted that the choice of a white colour ‘was a bit of a surprise from Pantone’.
"Over the last few years, we've started to see a shift in the Australian market from the use of cooler whites and neutrals, in favour of warm and neutral whites. This is alongside the emergence of neutral pastels including soft greens and pinks - which is really interesting and gaining popularity in Australian interiors."
"These whimsical tones exude an uplifting and soothing atmosphere throughout the home, as seen within the Ethereal palette from the 2026 Dulux Colour Forecast."
But as Leatrice Eiseman, Executive Director of the Pantone Colour Institute, explains: “Cloud Dancer is a billowy, balanced white, not cold or sterile. It has a natural warmth and organic feel, making it suitable for interiors, fashion, architecture, and anywhere neutrality and calm are desired.
The colour institute originally created the Colour of the Year to ‘engage the design community and colour enthusiasts around the world in a conversation around colour’. Each year, a team of global colour experts get together to decide on that year’s colour, mindful of the influence their choice can have on a wide range of communities, from the fashion industry, to interior and graphic designers.
Talking to the announcement about Cloud Dancer, Australia’s Colour Analysis Studio, says: "From a colour-analysis perspective, Cloud Dancer is an ambiguous neutral, adaptable to many palettes, yet precisely for this reason neither deeply personal nor personalising."
To support the official launch of Cloud Dancer as 2026 Colour of the Year, Pantone will collaborate with artists from across all areas of design, on their own interpretations of the colour: a collaboration which is expected to spawn a number of limited-edition designs. For example, Pantone is already working with Emiliano Ponzi, an illustrator, visual artist and author, to create a limited-edition tote bag that showcases Cloud Dancer through his visual language.
