The Pantone Color Institute, known for creating and branding specialized shades of color that appear on products like Motorola's phone line, has announced Cloud Dancer white as the 2026 Color of the Year.
The graphic helps illustrate the Cloud Dancer shade of white, which is slightly warmer in tone compared to the white surrounding the Pantone logo.
This shade of white, debuting Thursday alongside a number of partner products that will feature the color tone, was chosen following a year of societal research by Pantone.Â
Laurie Pressman and Leatrice Eiseman, Pantone Color Institute's vice president and executive director, respectively, said in an interview with CNET that Cloud Dancer's selection reflects a desire to find calmness amid a frenetic society, with this shade of white aiming to be more natural and tactile.
"The name plays an outsized role because a name has to conjure up an emotion or a feeling," Pressman said, with Cloud Dancer following 2025's Mocha Mousse, 2024's Peach Fuzz and 2023's Viva Magenta. Various factors also influence the color selection made by a global team, including lifestyles, film, music and aspirational travel.
The Motorola Edge 70 in Pantone's Cloud Dancer shade will also has Swarovski crystals. It will be released in select markets.
"What we chose is the perfect white as far as balance is concerned, it has equal undertones of cool and warm," Eiseman said.
Cloud Dancer, which has been given the designation of 11-4201 in Pantone's numerical system, will be appearing on a number of products that are partnering with Pantone that will be released throughout the end of 2025 and in 2026. These include an upcoming Motorola phone designated for international markets, as a new Play-Doh color that could be molded into clouds or blended with other colors and as a Post-it color that will be part of the paper brand's upcoming Neutrality Collection.
The Cloud Dancer edition of Play-Doh will release in 2026.
Pantone has been naming a Color of the Year since 2000, but this will be the first time a shade of white will receive the designation. Eiseman said that part of Pantone's goal is to start a conversation about color when choosing a shade that reflects its research. Cloud Dancer is intended as a playful and light depiction of white, veering away from a more snowy or cold shade.
Among other partnerships, Cloud Dancer will also appear on furniture by Joybird, as a Pura fragrance inspired by the color and -- in a very fitting match -- as a new white for Command hooks and clips.