Millennial Pink is not a color

I’m really excited about this color recently.

But it’s not really a color, in the sense that a PANTONE chip can be a single color. The amount of pink I am seeing on fashionable people, in interiors, and anywhere else - it’s a lot of pink! But every time, the shade is a bit different.

It feels like the color trend that everyone loved to complain about seeing literally everywhere in 2016 has matured, and grown into a color system.

A color “story” - rather than a specific shade & tint being in fashion means that finally (!) more people than before can select something that complements their skin tone. For me personally, the pale-pink color of 2016 did not feel right: so bright and “cold” that it made me look sick. With the new alternative pink, blush, peach, dusty-rose, and terra cotta brown variations in stores right now, that’s no longer a problem.

I owe my understanding of the subtleties of color and tone in the beauty of pinks and nudes in the minimalist & subtly textured approach Solange Knowles takes in costuming and photographing A Seat at The Table.

And if we look carefully, this color range has been around forever. Picasso, Matisse, and Fragonard are just a few examples. What's diffent about now is that the set of pink-ish colors feels so right.

The single-shade Millennial Pink of 2016 is not all there is. And the idea of a single color dominating the conversation (regardless of whether it fits in) feels outdated. We weren't always able to control the exact shade of a large quantity of stuff. Spot-on PANTONE matched color trends in fashion, decoration, and other fields - are an industrial thing. But the industrial idea of perfectly controlled and standardized things is no longer as appeeling as a diverse field of options. And, I feel like with this fluid color system, our perception is maturing.

I agree with The Cut's Lauren Schwartzberg, who claims a modern, fluid gender identity has made the color pink wearable for all genders. And, as a fluid trend, we're all embracing it proudly.

Here's hoping that the fill-in-the-blank pink color spectrum is here to stay.