Viva Magenta

2023 Pantone Colour of the Year

Since the pandemic, the Pantone Color Institute has struggled with elevating the notion of vibrancy to ward off the doldrums of isolation and lockdowns. Last year, they created the blue-ish Veri Peri. In 2020, they rolled out two colors – variations of yellow and grey – to inject positive feelings among the masses.

This year, Pantone continues its hop, skip and jump across the colour spectrum to unveil Viva Magenta, a deep red to nudge the restlessness that’s been wallowing in stasis the past couple of years. “In this age of technology, we look to draw inspiration from nature and what is real,” said Leatricer Eiseman, Pantone’s executive director. “Pantone 18-1750 Viva Magenta descends from the red family, and is inspired by the red of cochineal, one of the most precious dyes belonging to the natural dye family as well as one of the strongest and brightest the world has known.”

And as these items in this spread demonstrate, there’s no time like the summer to make the most of this hot new colour.

Art: Brenda Lakeman

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