Get all your news in one place.
100's of premium titles.
One app.
Start reading
The Guardian - UK
The Guardian - UK
Lifestyle
Elle Hunt

Viva Magenta! What Pantone’s colour of the year tells us about 2023

Lewis Hamilton at the Italian Grand Prix in September, 2022.
Lewis Hamilton at the Italian Grand Prix in September, 2022. Photograph: NurPhoto/Getty Images

It exists between blue and red, warm and cool, to be found on a spectrum all its own. It is 150 years old yet still future-facing, at once digital and primordial. It is – to quote its creators – “brave, fearless and pulsating”. It is Viva Magenta, Pantone’s colour of 2023.

If you’ve never heard of this colour, that’s quite deliberate. For almost 25 years, the colour-matching company has tasked itself with choosing a shade that – according to its extensive cross-disciplinary analysis of prominent hues within art, fashion, design and beyond – not simply captures the zeitgeist, but sets the tone for the year to come.

Sign up to read this article
Read news from 100's of titles, curated specifically for you.
Already a member? Sign in here
Related Stories
Top stories on inkl right now
One subscription that gives you access to news from hundreds of sites
Already a member? Sign in here
Our Picks
Fourteen days free
Download the app
One app. One membership.
100+ trusted global sources.