Cloud Dancer* Power
Pantone on Pantone’s Color of the Year 2026
In the distance, a dog barked. Yowled, really. Something was making the canine uncomfortable, but I couldn’t tell what. I was here for an interview with Pantone director of messaging Sophie Penderschlaus.
“Here” was the Pantone Color Institute, an Egret-colored building with columns painted Cannoli Cream. Sophie seated me in a room with Copper Skillet-stained wooden frames around transparent windows. The tiles were Subterranean, the grout Brilliant White, the leather seats Silky Rose, and the diaphanous chiffon hanging from Ms Penderschlaus’s shoulders Stalactite. We were here, naturally, to discuss the Color of the Year for 2026.
“Tell me more about the services Pantone provides. I thought you were a paint company.”
“No,” Ms Penderschlaus said, “no, no, no, no, no. Pantone provides an irreplaceable service to communities of color. We help individuals or firms find colors. We consult with designers and fash-ists, fashion-people, about color decisions. We make forecasts about what colors will be popular, and we provide color solutions.”
“Color solutions?”
“A color solution is when you… let’s say you don’t know what color to paint your bathroom. Pantone will help you make a decision.”
“How?”
“By telling you what color would look best.”
“Such as Cloud-Dancer?”
Ms Penderschlaus laughed. “Oh, I’m sorry. I thought you were being funny. Pantone does not recommend you paint your bathroom the Color of the Year. Colors of the Year are recommended for more sophisticated and important situations. Robes, for instance.”
“Bathrobes, or, robes for special ceremonies?”
“Ceremonial robes.”
I asked Ms Penderschlaus how she and her team arrived at Cloud Dancer for a color choice for the year. “The selection process is arduous, as the final choice is meant to send an important signal to people about the coming year. Flame Scarlet was a contender, this year. It would represent cleansing fire, clashes, or blood.
“But that was considered ‘too revolutionary.’ We thought about Tender Peach but decided that was too close to a skin tone, and might send an unintended message—I’m sorry, that dog. Is it bothering you?”
The dog had ceased barking, but now whined. Its call was clear from the room, passing through the large windows like the cry of a tinny whistle. “We considered Neon Nephrite, but it reminded us too much of the arsenic-green wallpaper that killed Napoleon. A great man, Napoleon. He united Europe like a bundle of sticks fascinated together. It seemed a mockery to his honor.
“Our final contender was Gunmetal. But Cloud Dancer was the obvious selection in the end.”
“You’ve made it clear you all put great consideration and expertise into your decision. Do you worry that people might get the wrong message? That must have come up in meetings.”
Ms Penderschlaus took a sip of tea from a Samba-colored mug before answering, “yes. We were expecting this. Lots of consideration and care went into this decision. Press packets have been prepared and we are ready to help designers with Cloud Dancer in any way we can.”
“Really? I’m surprised you still went forward with it, given how seriously badly this might go, and the messages you might be silently condoning.”
“Yes.” She held her cup in both hands. “Although many feel that way, we at Pantone feel that white is a color. Not a shade.”
The dog’s whine persisted. A tinny whistle. I clipped my Directoire Blue pen and set it against my Lucent White notepad. Ms Penderschlaus smiled at me, thinly, and took another sip of her tea.