Like every year, the Pantone Color Institute elects the Pantone Color of the Year, the colour that will be the protagonist in 2021 and that will chromatically inspire the world of fashion, interior design, industrial design and graphic design.
This year Pantone has decreed that not one colour will lead the trends but two: Pantone 17-5104 Ultimate Gray and Pantone 13-0647 Illuminating, the union between a vibrant yellow and a matte gray designed to instill strength and positivity.

Pantone 2021: Ultimate Gray and Illuminating

Ultimate Gray and Illuminating are two independent colours designed to show that different elements come together to support each other.
Pantone 13-0647 Illuminating is a bright, cheerful yellow that glows with vibrancy, a warm, sunny hue connected to the need to think, especially in these difficult times, that things will shine again.
Pantone 17-5104 Ultimate Gray, on the other hand, is a neutral and elegant shade of grey that calls to mind strong and durable elements: the colour of pebbles on the beach and natural elements whose aged appearance highlights their ability to withstand the passage of time. Ultimate Gray reassures with discretion, instilling feelings of firmness and resilience.
At a time when people are trying to find the energy, clarity and hope to get through this long period of uncertainty, shades that instil grit and courage respond to our need for vitality.
Leatrice Eiseman, Executive Director of the Pantone Color Institute, explains the choice of the two colours as follows: “The mix between a long-lasting Ultimate Gray and the vibrant yellow Illuminating expresses a message of positivity supported by great fortitude. Concrete and solid, but at the same time warm and optimistic, this colour combination gives us a sense of resilience and hope. We need to feel encouraged and uplifted; it's something essential to the human mind“.

Pantone 2021 colours in interior design

Combining strength and optimism, the experts at the Pantone Color Institute recommend not using the Ultimate Gray and Illuminating shades in the same proportions. Each colour can overpower the other, especially in areas such as clothing, beauty products, interior design or packaging.
Elegant and understated in the first case, energising and vital in the second, Ultimate Gray and Illuminating are two colours that we will see in both fashion and interior design throughout 2021. In interior decoration, Ultimate Gray and Illuminating are a great combination to create a sunny and positive atmosphere in the home.  Perfect in an office or commercial space, this combination of Ultimate Gray, a reassuring grey, and Illuminating, a bright yellow that enhances awareness, creates a message of vitality, originality and reliability. The combination of Illuminating and Ultimate Gray is sure to be found in sofas, armchairs, chairs, tablecloths, bed linen and home accessories.

The Pantone Color of the Year

As a result of careful evaluation and trend analysis, the Pantone Colour of the Year has been influencing product development and purchasing decisions in a wide range of sectors for more than 20 years.  Experts at the Pantone Color Institute examine influences and trends from around the world: these can come from new technologies, materials, textures and effects that impact colour, from leading social media platforms and even from events that capture international attention.