Pantone’s Colour of the Year 2026 is “Cloud Dancer”, AKA white. This is the first time that the American colour standards company has picked white since the annual ritual began in 1999—and people hate it. Instagram and Reddit comments are calling it “Klan robe white” or like a “whole boiled chicken breast with no salt”. I have to agree.
It is such a depressing colour. Or non-colour. If it were a meal, it would be untoasted, unbuttered bread without even any water; just painful, super-dry chewing-and-swallowing levels of depressing.
Luckily for us, the It girls and designers rejected the dull, minimalist white and we’ve been blessed with the most vibrant, loud and demanding colours this season. SS26 has given us an array of fun and bold colours to experiment with. What Pantone calls a “billowy white imbued with serenity” can go on a meditation retreat in the meantime.
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The season’s real colours
The first colour of the season has to be lime green, otherwise known as chartreuse. Prada used it on a pleated boatneck dress with a grey undershirt, purple latex gloves, and white pointed-toe heels. Alaïa went bolder, with a showstopping asymmetrical skirt covered in huge tassels, and another asymmetrical silk skirt.
Another attention-grabber is fuchsia pink, seen on Chloé’s runway in a 1950s-inspired floral dress and a puffy ruffled top. Alaïa gave it an outing on a breathtaking knitted asymmetrical skirt.
Then there’s tomato red. Chanel’s dramatic red skirt, adorned with feathers and tassels, comes to mind immediately, along with Stella McCartney’s tulle dress with draping, an exaggerated sweetheart neckline, and a long train, paired with funky pointed-toe heels in the same shade. Other colours of the season include cobalt blue, bubblegum pink, emerald green, and citrus yellow.
For me personally, the colour of the season has to be violet. Mainly because I just bought the most gorgeous pair of violet velvet pointed-toe heels and I can’t get them out of my head, but that’s beside the point. It’s such a rich hue that pops in the summer sun and looks amazing with lime green and grey. I look forward to styling this colour all season long.
But fun as they are, bright colours are notorious for being almost impossible to style and not everyone knows how to pull it off. If not done correctly, you may end up looking like a sheet of origami paper or a very confused traffic cone. Done right though, you automatically become chic and stand out anywhere.
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How to be loud and proud
If you’re planning to add some of these colours to your wardrobe this summer, here are a few colour combo ideas to get you started.
If you’re not afraid of being loud and proud with your colour combos, try chartreuse with fuchsia pink or violet. Fuchsia pink also works a treat with orange, teal, or violet.
Hints of tomato red in an outfit, like on prints, a necktie, socks, hair accessories, or even shoes like the trending Puma Speedcats, add a fun, summery pop of colour. Try to avoid wearing it as a dress or anything too big and flowy, or you may end up looking like an actual tomato.
If you’re looking for a more wearable and casual alternative, pair any of these bright colours with denim — either light or dark. It will still give you that fun, elevated look without making it too overwhelming.
One cheat code I live by is to pair any colour with black, the universal shade that matches almost anything. But maybe be extra careful if you’re pairing black and green together, or you may end up looking like the doppelganger of Shego from Kim Possible— just in case that’s not what you wanted to go for.
Still, even accidental Shego is a better look than Pantone’s Casper.
Views are personal.
(Edited by Asavari Singh)