The 2023 Pantone Color of the Year

The Pantone Color Institute has announced their selection for the 2023 PANTONE Color of the Year! This year's selection is warm and bold: PANTONE 18-1750 Viva Magenta. 

This year's color selection "vibrates with vim and vigor," the Institute says. "It is a shade rooted in nature descending from the red family and expressive of a new signal of strength. Viva Magenta is brave and fearless, and a pulsating color whose exuberance promotes a joyous and optimistic celebration, writing a new narrative." The showcase was cleverly dubbed the "Magentaverse."

The Pantone Color Institute selects a color each year to encompass and embody the spirit of the year to come. It often draws inspiration from varying creative industries include graphic design, fashion, cosmetics, and more. The Institute has provided pairing selections for Viva Magenta, highlighting warm, muted colors like Pale Dogwood and Gray Sand, as well as earth tones like Pale Khaki, Fields of Rye, and Agate Gray to provide a cooler complement to the vibrant red tone. 

Leatrice Eiseman, the Executive Director of the Pantone Color Institute commented on the selection, saying, "In this age of technology, we look to draw inspiration from nature and what is real. 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... Rooted in the primordial, PANTONE 18-1750 Viva Magenta reconnects us to original matter. Invoking the forces of nature, PANTONE 18-1750 Viva Magenta galvanizes our spirit, helping us to build our inner strength."

The Pantone Color Institute partnered with multiple brands, building what they dubbed the "Magentaverse." The brands include Motorola launching a Viva Magenta phone color option, Spoonflower hosting Color of the Year-centric design challenges and celebrating the choice with unique surface pattern designs by independent artists, and Cariuma introducing their new magenta canvas shoe. As was the case last year, Artechouse in Miami also collaborated with the Institute to create a public, technology-driven exhibition to showcase the Color of the Year, which was on view during Art Basel in Miami Beach, followed by public display beginning December 3rd of 2022 (see above). 

We love the Viva Magenta color selection for the way it commands attention. It's bold but inviting, unique but familiar, daring but modest. The last several years have been steadfast, quietly creative, or rooted in fortitude. While we've loved each selection for the year and time it represented, PANTONE 18-1750 Viva Magenta feels right - as if we're collectively moving into the unknown of a new year motivated, optimistic, and ready.

You can read our breakdowns of past Colors of the Year: 2022's Very Peri, 2021's Ultimate Gray and Illuminating, and 2020's Classic Blue. 

We've taken the opportunity to highlight a few pieces in the Sorelle collection that incorporate colors similar to the 2023 Color of the Year. See our highlights below!

Cosmopolitan | Teodora Guererra

8th St. Miami Lifeguard Stand - Side View | Peter Mendelson

Red Borders - Limited Edition Print | Ken Elliott

Diva - Print | Christine Averill-Green