Pantone unveils Viva Magenta as 2023 Colour of the Year

The fiery red hue is rooted in nature and a shade that is ‘audacious and inclusive’

Pantone's 2023 colour of the year is Viva Magenta. Photo: Pantone

Viva Magenta has been unveiled as Pantone's “colour of the year” for 2023.

Not quite red and not quite pink, Pantone’s pick for the coming year exists somewhere in-between the hues.

Pantone says the shade is “rooted in nature” and is “expressive of a new signal of strength”.

Officially coded as Pantone 18-1750, the colour was inspired by the red of cochineal, a bright natural dye that’s been derived from a type of small insect for hundreds of years.

It's also a colour that's “inclusive of all” said Leatrice Eiseman, executive director of the Pantone Colour Institute.

Viva Magenta is designed to be reflective of the times that we live in.

“It is this connection between colour and culture that the colour of the year selection represents,” said Elley Cheng, vice president and general manager of Pantone.

“This colour merges the warmth of a natural world with the endless rich possibilities of the digital space.”

The purplish-red hue will also be familiar to social media users. It's similar to the gradient colours found on Instagram’s camera app icon, and to the reddish-pink shades on the music note logo for TikTok, the world's most popular video-sharing platform.

The regal colour has also been spotted on many celebrities, and was the base colour for a suit worn by Kate, Princess of Wales, on her trip to Massachusetts with Prince William this week.

Queen Rania also sported the hue as an accent colour on a white dress she wore earlier this year, in a photo released by Jordan's Royal Palace to mark the engagement announcement of Princess Iman.

Pantone has selected a colour of the year annually for over two decades. Its selection has become increasingly influential in the world of design since it was first introduced in 2000.

The company says it observes current trends in fashion, decor, film, technology and more to identify its colour of the year.

It has announced new partnerships with Motorola, Artechouse Studio in New York, Spoonflower Independent Artists and conscious skate shoe brand Cariuma to produce collections themed around Viva Magenta.

Last year’s colour selection was Very Peri — a fusion of blue and violet-red. That was designed to be a blend of trustworthiness, tranquillity and comfort (from the blue) and energy, joy and creativity (from the violet-red).