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

This time around, the influential color company has chosen white as its premier hue.

More specifically, the shade is called Cloud Dancer – a white touted as "lofty" and "airy" which "serves as a emblem of tranquility in a society re-evaluating the worth of stillness".

It marks the initial instance a pure white has been chosen as the Colour of the Year, and it has generated significant controversy.

Per Pantone, Cloud Dancer "is not just a colour, it's a philosophy" and signifies a shared desire to decelerate, reset and achieve serenity after years of aesthetic chaos.

But some detractors have branded the decision as "insensitive", suggesting that promoting sparse and pristine white spaces can seem far removed from the more compact, lived-in homes most people inhabit.

Others propose that presenting white as an ideal risks racial undertones, landing uncomfortably amid continuing political and cultural discussions about race and representation.

Clinical or Calm?

Interior expert One design critic says the backlash goes beyond aesthetics, noting that white carries cultural undertones and is rarely a innocuous choice.

"White is a signal," he says, shaped by a decade of sparse star homes – most famously Kim Kardashian's austere home – that came to represent "affluence, order and distance from disorder".

He clarifies that white is "not about inspiration but taking care not to cause upset", with Cloud Dancer representing "restraint, virtuous simplicity and the notion that impartiality denotes virtue".

The designer references the pandemic as a turning point in how people perceive their homes.

"Almost instantly they transformed into our offices, refuges and sources of stability," he says, adding that in this context, directing the Colour of the Year towards "more aesthetic barrenness feels rather disconnected".

Rather than offering calm, he argues white now risks heightening "a sense of bleakness", particularly when combined with harsh, sterile lighting.

'A Clinical Atmosphere

An interior designer, a Surrey based design expert, concurs and says Cloud Dancer "is not perceived as a colour" and is "completely rejected for me".

Although it may suit highly minimal or structural spaces, she says pure white shades seldom foster calm in everyday living spaces.

"An image of tranquility in a styled shoot can easily feel clinical at home," she clarifies.

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

She continues that "homes should elicit happiness and be warm and welcoming, and this hue feels quite distant from that."

Beaumont expresses a desire that homeowners will reject the Pantone Colour of the Year in favour of "full-scale dopamine décor", using colour to showcase individuality.

A representative of the Pantone Colour Institute stated that people "bring different feelings" to the significance of the colour, but it was selected as it "integrates perfectly with everything around it, providing a refined neutrality that feels deliberate and adaptable".

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

Past choices have featured the hopefulness of Living Coral, the calm confidence of a deep blue, the vibrancy of a bold pink-red, and most recently softer, feeling-based tones like a soft peach.

These colours extend beyond style predictions - they show up in clothing lines, cosmetic products, home decor, product wrapping and even consumer electronics, shaping how products are sold and how consumers imagine the coming year.

Victoria Robinson, says Cloud Dancer is a "beautiful choice" and while it may appear basic, "this specific hue seems gentle and elegant rather than stark".

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

"Even if you don't want to redecorate, you can incorporate the colour into a room with pillows, blankets and drapes."

Design expert Another professional says although he was taken aback that Pantone's selection this year was "fundamentally the absence of colour", it is a bit like vanilla ice cream, in that "it is universally accepted but it's nobody's favourite".

He can see its benefits, explaining that white can work particularly well as a backdrop for architectural details like panelling and curved entries which is a "rising style in contemporary houses".

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

Fashion consultant Oriona Robb says elevating white feels "not focused on newness and more about intention", reflecting a movement towards sophistication after years of trend overloads.

"White forces designers and those who wear it alike to concentrate on shape, proportion and craftsmanship, there's really no room for error," she clarifies.

But she continues that it also carries assumptions around self-image, way of life and advantage, saying: "If white is treated as something only a limited subset of people can pull off, it becomes exclusionary."

She says the fashion world is already aware of the problematic connotations associated with lauding white as an aspirational standard, particularly during continuing discussions about representation and approachability, and the true challenge will be whether "brands address that complexity authentically, or simply aestheticise the colour".

A Reflection of the Times

Style consultant Katie Malik concedes the choice at first shocked her, given Pantone's history of vibrant hues, but says it mirrors a genuine shift and aligns with a broader sentiment of "quiet luxury