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For anyone who has spent a long time renting, confronted by the same standard-issue beige walls and longing for injecting personal style to their home, Pantone's new Colour of the Year might seem like a direct affront.

This time around, the renowned color company has designated white as its premier hue.

To be precise, the shade is called Cloud Dancer – a white characterized as "elevated" and "airy" which "serves as a emblem of tranquility in a society re-evaluating the worth of quiet reflection".

It signifies the first time white has been honored as the Colour of the Year, and it has generated significant controversy.

According to Pantone, Cloud Dancer "transcends mere pigment, it's a state of being" and signifies a shared yearning to decelerate, recalibrate and find calm after years of visual overload.

But some critics have branded the decision as "insensitive", suggesting that elevating sparse and pristine white spaces can feel far removed from the more compact, lived-in homes everyday individuals inhabit.

Some observers argue that presenting white as an ideal carries racial undertones, creating unease during ongoing political and cultural conversations about race and representation.

Soothing or Stark?

Designer One design critic says the criticism goes beyond aesthetics, noting that white bears societal connotations and is rarely a neutral choice.

"White is a signal," he says, influenced by a decade of sparse star homes – most famously Kim Kardashian's austere home – that came to represent "wealth, order and removal from chaos".

He clarifies that white is "not intended to inspire but being careful not to offend", with Cloud Dancer personifying "austerity, virtuous simplicity and the notion that neutrality equals virtue".

Beaumont cites the global health crisis as a pivotal moment in how people relate to their homes.

"Almost instantly they became our offices, refuges and emotional anchors," he says, noting that against this backdrop, directing the Colour of the Year towards "more visual emptiness seems rather disconnected".

Instead of providing calm, he argues white now threatens to intensifying "a sense of bleakness", particularly when combined with cool, clinical lighting.

'Sterile Sensations

Lara Clark, a Surrey based interior designer, agrees and says Cloud Dancer "is not perceived as a colour" and is "firmly in the bin for me".

While it may suit extremely sparse or structural spaces, she says bright whites rarely create calm in real homes.

"An image of tranquility in a professional photo can readily feel sterile at home," she explains.

"White can feel stark and unforgiving and you don't want your home to emit hospital vibes."

She adds that "living spaces should elicit happiness and be warm and lived-in, and this shade seems quite removed from that."

The critic hopes that homeowners will disregard the Pantone Colour of the Year in preference for "full-scale joyful interior design", using colour to showcase individuality.

The vice president of the Pantone Colour Institute stated that people "have varied interpretations" to the meaning of the colour, but it was chosen as it "integrates perfectly with everything around it, providing a sophisticated impartiality that feels deliberate and versatile".

Since its launch in 2000, Pantone's Colour of the Year has evolved into a significant industry signal.

Past choices have featured the optimism of a vibrant pink-orange, the calm confidence of Classic Blue, the energy of Viva Magenta, and more recently more gentle, feeling-based tones like a soft peach.

These colours extend beyond style predictions - they appear in clothing lines, beauty launches, interiors, product wrapping and even consumer electronics, shaping how products are sold and how consumers envision the coming year.

A style and trend expert, says Cloud Dancer is a "elegant choice" and while it may appear simple, "this specific hue feels soft and refined rather than severe".

In contrast to those who say the colour is boring, Robinson sees it as "adaptable" and says it's best used in "bedrooms and communal spaces where you want a peaceful, calming atmosphere".

"Even if you prefer not to redecorate, you can incorporate the colour into a room with cushions, throws and curtains."

Interior designer James Mellan-Matulewicz says although he was surprised that Pantone's pick this year was "fundamentally the lack of pigment", it is a bit like a basic flavor, in that "everyone likes it but it's nobody's favourite".

He can see its merits, noting that white can work especially effectively as a background for design features like panelling and curved entries which is a "rising style in contemporary houses".

In fashion, white has long been a basic rather than a bold declaration and as a Colour of the Year it presents a different challenge to designers more accustomed to bold shades.

Fashion consultant A styling expert says elevating white seems "not focused on newness and more concerned with purpose", reflecting a shift towards sophistication after years of fad saturation.

"White forces designers and those who wear it alike to concentrate on form, scale and quality, there's really nowhere to hide," she clarifies.

But she adds that it also carries assumptions around body confidence, lifestyle and advantage, stating: "When white is treated as something only a narrow group of people can wear well, it becomes divisive."

She says the industry is already aware of the uncomfortable undertones tied to lauding white as an aspirational standard, particularly during ongoing conversations about representation and accessibility, and the real test will be whether "companies engage with that complexity authentically, or simply aestheticise the colour".

A Societal Shift, Not a Fad

Stylist Katie Malik admits the choice at first shocked her, given Pantone's track record of bold colours, but says it mirrors a authentic change and fits within a wider mood of "quiet luxury