The color experts at Pantone have chosen the winner for the color of year 2018: Ultra Violet (#18-3838 for Pantone fans), a “dramatically provocative and thoughtful purple shade.”
Color of the year has deep meaning, reports the New York Times. In 2016, Pantone named two colors: rose quartz and serenity, a pink and a blue, in acknowledgment of our increasingly gender-fluid world. Last year, it went for a green tone to suggest new beginnings (be careful what you ask for).
Pantone Vice President Laurie Pressman told the USA Today (via Associated Press) that the choice wasn’t political, but stated, “We are living in complex times,” she said. “We’re seeing the fear of going forward and how people are reacting to that fear.” Pressman added, “It’s truly a reflection of what’s needed in our world today,”
Mystical, mythical, and regal (with a little bit of hippy), Ultra Violet is not only showing up in current pop culture (in fashion, for example), but has a long history of purple fans. Read the NYTimes article and the USA Today article to find out about the violet fans, from Prince (of course) and Jimi Hendrix to Wagner, Frank Lloyd Wright, and Rihanna.
