The Ominous Greige Pantone Colour of the Year: Cloud Dancer

“What in the white supremacy, bland vanilla bullshit is this?”

That was our initial reaction when the Pantone Colour of the Year for 2026 was announced. Are they taking the piss? Is it a nuanced take on the current state of the world? Or are they leaning into the white nationalist dogma gripping the western world?

Pantone 11-4201 aka “Cloud Dancer” is billed as a ‘lofty, billowy, serene white’ with warm grey undertones. In reality, it’s a bit of a greige (grey + beige), which kind of makes it even worse as it leans into the quiet luxury/clean girl vibes that tip into trad wifery that have taken over social media for the past couple of years. It’s hard not to feel cynical about Pantone choosing a colour during a period where the socio-political climate has felt so extreme.

Their rationale was, in fact, political: in their official story behind the choice, Pantone Vice President Laurie Pressman explains that they wanted to highlight “what is taking place in our global culture” during a period where people are seeking “truth” and exploring where humanity sits amongst the complexity of the digital landscape.

Ironically, they’ve used AI generated images to populate their entire article. Where exactly do we find refuge from AI slop in an article about escaping…AI slop?

Ironically, they’ve used AI generated images to populate their entire article. Where exactly do we find refuge from AI slop in an article about escaping…AI slop?

Pressman expands: “An airy white hue, Cloud Dancer exemplifies our search for balance between our increasingly digital future and our primal need for human connection”. But by basing this around the future of AI and tech, they’ve leant into age-old sci-fi tropes about sterile futuristic design with white rooms and neon lighting. More ironically, the whole thing feels painfully dated and clinical during a time where we should be prioritising our relationship with the natural world rather than the artificial. The whole thing reads as hastily written nonsense to hide an inside joke.

And while they drone on about our collective digital future and stepping away from hustle culture with a serene, relaxing hue, it’s impossible not to connect the choice with more pertinent social observations from 2025. Or notice that the only human they’ve used in their imagery is white.

If you look holistically at the past year and Trump’s America, you’ll see a boon in right wing politics, a violent push for de-immigration no longer hidden but proudly acknowledged by a government believed to only be in power due to racist ideology, and a jump in traditional family values influencers who want to roll back women’s rights along with LGBTQIA+. Globally, it feels like we are on the brink of WW3 with a heavy ‘white vs other’ narrative pushing ahead for the large gains of a small group who hold the majority of the world’s wealth and power.

During a time where AI homogenisation of art and culture is rampant and racist, pro-white ideology is written into law, choosing the bleakest of greige-white tones feels like an ominous prophecy for the future of humanity than the clean white slate they’re trying to frame it as.