Pantone’s 2016 Color of the Year Revealed

The pastel trend isn’t going anywhere soon! It is here to stay, according to PANTONE. And for the first time, the color authority and trend forecaster selected not one, but two colours of the year for 2016: Rose Quartz and Serenity.

PANTONE has made a political and philosophical choice, explained by “societal movements toward gender equality and fluidity, the consumer’s increased comfort with using color as a form of expression, a generation that has less concern about being typecast or judged and an open exchange of digital information that has opened our eyes to different approaches to color usage.”

By choosing Rose Quartz and Serenity, Pantone aims to end the stereotype that pink is for girls and blue is for buys. And as Vanessa Friedman wrote in The New York Times, “choosing the most clichéd gender colors can seem a bit simplistic, but Pantone has a broad constituency to manage; this is not about the cutting edge, but the big middle.”

Gentle and evoking a feeling of tranquility, the two shades are meant to be used together, providing an inherent balance between a warm tone and a cooler hue, and “reflecting connection and wellness as well as a soothing sense of order and peace.”

We’ve rounded up our favourite furnishings to match PANTONE’s Colors of the Year 2016, to help you create the look at home.

All sources after the jump.

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See my top picks in last year’s color, Marsala, here.

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