The Pantone Color Institute has carried through its yearly task of forecasting the color depicting the upcoming year. In a decision suitable to a complex time, the color authority has revealed not one but two hues for its Color of the Year: the neutral Ultimate Gray and vibrant yellow Illuminating.

Ultimate Gray, Illuminating

After soldiering through quite possibly the worst year, or as columnist Sally Jenkins quipped last week, "this damn zombie movie," we look back on a year wherein we grappled with an illness, a global pandemic, social upheaval, and economic distress.

It makes the Pantone Color Institute, which chose Classic Blue as the Color of the Year for 2020, quite visionary.

The prognosticators at Pantone are trend forecasters who scour the world for months, taking note of developments in cars, clothing, kitchens, coffee (the stuff surrounding us), and translating it into a color they claim to be the dominant hue for the arriving year.

It does not depict indecisiveness but a metaphor.

The shades are also named PANTONE 17-5104 or the Ultimate Gray, and PANTONE 13-0647 or the Illuminating.

The two independent colors reportedly come together to create an ambitious color pairing, incorporating deeper feelings of thoughtfulness with the positive promise of sunshine.

While people seek ways to fortify themselves with clarity, energy, and hope to tackle the continuing uncertainty, spirited and invigorating shades satisfy our quest for vitality.

The two colors were visible in the spring/summer 2021 collections of Jacquemus, Prada, Gucci, Balmain, and Givenchy. The pair will take over from 2020's demure Classic Blue and is guaranteed to positively affect your mind and wardrobe.

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Pantone's Color of the Year selections usually prove invaluable for creatives and merchandisers designing for the year ahead. They are also oddly prescient barometers of global mood. In 2020, the choice of a soothing blue hue depicted a reliable comfort against the chaotic ensuing year.

The year 2021 will mark the second time Pantone selected a pair of colors to represent a single year; Rose Quartz and Serenity were selected for 2016. 

The logic behind this move is unlike that of any preceding selection.

According to Laurie Pressman, vice president of the Pantone Color Institute, in a video conference with CNN, "It's a combination that speaks to the resilience, the optimism and hope and positivity that we need, as we reset, renew, reimagine and reinvent. Two extremely independent colors highlight how different elements come together to express this message of strength and hopefulness," reported Hypebeast.

Also, according to Pressman, when deliberating the colors, "We always want to make sure that everybody knows we are not gazing into a crystal ball to make this selection. This is a process that requires a lot of thoughtful consideration," reported Vogue.

It is the first time an achromatic shade (gray) has been chosen.

Classic Blue for 2020 was a color that anticipates what would transpire next. The shades selected for this year were chosen due to their warmth and dependability.

According to the Pantone press release on Wednesday, Illuminating is "a bright and cheerful yellow sparkling with vivacity, a warming yellow shade imbued with solar power," while Ultimate Gray, like pebbles, is emblematic of "solid and dependable elements which are everlasting and provide a firm foundation," reported Los Angeles Times.

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