Living For Coral: Pantone’s 2019 Color of the Year Is Announced

Red eyeglasses with liquid poured around and over them.

The news is in! Pantone has named “Living Coral” their 2019 Color of the Year. Pantone describes it as “an animating and life-affirming coral hue with a golden undertone that energizes and enlivens with a softer edge.” The company specifically cited “the onslaught of digital technology and social media increasingly embedding into daily life” as a factor in its decision.

2019 Living Coral 16-1546 over an image of coral and a fish.

The Color of the Year began in 2000, when the Pantone Color Institute announced Cerulean as its inaugural color. Since then, their unveiling of the new Color of the Year has become a very big deal. Today, it is so wildly popular that brands wait to design products around what color is announced.

2000, Curlean, 15-4020

Pantone’s first-ever Color of the Year

Pantone color swatches booklet with shades of red, pink, purple, and blue displayed in a grid format.

What Is Pantone?
Pantone first started in 1963, when founder Lawrence Herbert created a system for identifying, matching, and communicating colors for consistency across industries. This eventually led to the Pantone Matching System, which is used worldwide today. Today, Pantone is considered the worldwide expert in everything color related.

Pantone Color Bridge Coated and Uncoated fan decks from The Plus Series, showing a spectrum of colors.

How Is the Color of the Year Picked?
Every year, a small team of people at the Pantone Color Institute dedicate their work to determining what will be the next Color of the Year. This includes travelling to London, Paris, and Milan to see what is happening with fashion on the street, viewing new movies to see what colors are being used, and looking at emerging technology. According to their website, they study how “color influences human thought processes, emotions and physical reactions, furthering its commitment to providing professionals with a greater understanding of color and to help them utilize color more effectively.”

Three women wearing vibrant orange outfits: a trench coat and dress, a pantsuit, and a ruffled mini dress.

How Do I Wear Coral in 2019?
If you want to incorporate this year’s Color of the Year into your wardrobe, you won’t have to look far. It is already popping up in jackets, shoes, and accessories. Style icon Jennifer Lopez and supermodel Gigi Hadid have both been spotted wearing coral ensembles. And since glasses are the name of our game, below are our favorite Zenni frames inspired by Living Coral.

Colorful eyeglasses with three different frame styles displayed on a white background.Square Glasses in Ambrosia
Cat-Eye Glasses in Carnelian
Browline Glasses in Pink

Read about last year’s Pantone Color of the Year.