With 2023 drawing to a close, the time has come for the Pantone Colour of the Year 2024 to be revealed: Peach Fuzz. Pushing aside last year’s bold shade of Viva Magenta, this soft blend of pink and orange is, according to Pantone, designed to signal tactility, comfort, and warmth. And it’s clear that the leading houses have already taken note, with Peach Fuzz fashion already being incorporated into many of their latest collections.
Peach Fuzz, the new Pantone Colour of the Year 2024, was chosen to express a yearning for community and cosiness during uncertain times, and feels like just the sort of warming hue we need to see us into the new year. Described by the Pantone Colour Institute as a “velvety gentle peach tone, whose all-embracing spirit enriches mind, body, and soul”, its name immediately brings to mind the idea of human touch, as the phrase is often used to refer to the soft, downy hairs on one’s face.
Every year, the new shade is chosen after almost a year’s worth of research and trend forecasting, during which time Pantone analyses key colours that are regularly occurring in the worlds of art, fashion, design and beyond to find one shade that not only captures the current zeitgeist, but also sets to the tone for the year to come. Described by Pantone as being “poetic and romantic”, Peach Fuzz has a “vintage vibe” and has been chosen thanks to the fact that it reflects that past while also evoking a contemporary ambiance.
“The colour we selected to be our Pantone Colour of the Year 2024 needed to express our desire to want to be close to those we love and the joy we get when allowing ourselves to tune into who we are and just savour a moment of quiet time alone,” said Laurie Pressman, vice president of the Pantone Colour Institute. “It needed to be a colour whose warm and welcoming embrace conveyed a message of compassion and empathy. One that was nurturing and whose cosy sensibility brought people together.”
The hue is being hailed as a positive colour, one that’s designed to stir up feelings of optimism and warmth – something we need more than ever as this difficult, tumultuous year draws to a close. As ever, Pantone will be displaying the hue through several partnerships with companies including Motorola, Polaroid, wallpaper brand Spoonflower and Ruggable, with whom they’ve collaborated on a series of peachy pink rugs. Thanks to its cheerful connotations, adding a touch of Peach Fuzz to your interiors is a great way to bring some joy into your home over the coming year.
Embracing the colour could also be an easy way to tap into dopamine dressing in 2024. The sunny shade has already been featured in some of the biggest fashion house’s collections over the last few seasons. At Balmain, there were pleated, off-the-shoulder dresses in a distinctly Peach Fuzz-esque hue, while Alaïa sent models down the catwalk in entire PVC outfits in the on-trend shade during their SS24 show. At Roksanda, meanwhile, it was seen in draped silk gowns, while Missoni used the shade on a series of figure-hugging mesh dresses.
