Viva Magenta: Pantone's colour for 2023 is an unconventional shade for an unconventional time

Viva Magenta, color of the year for 2023 Image: Shutterstock

Power, exuberance, vigor, happiness, and optimism. 2023 is shaping up to be a very auspicious year, according to the symbols and meanings attributed to Pantone's designated color of the year, Viva Magenta. Derived from red, without being aggressive or dominating, this shade is also synonymous with experimentation and self-expression, but that's not all... Here's what Viva Magenta tells us about the year ahead.

"An unconventional shade for an unconventional time," "a new narrative." These are the words used by Pantone to present the color of 2023, Viva Magenta. Something that gives us hope that the months ahead will give us a bit of a breather, after months of gloom on economic and geopolitical fronts. The next year could see some positive changes or, if the color specialists are right, it could bring glimpses of new prospects. Relief. Especially since the experts at Pantone associate this new color with joy, optimistic celebration, strength, dynamism, and even vigor, terms reflecting a certain positive energy that hasn't exactly been front and center these last few years to say the least.

"A new narrative"

After "Very Peri," Pantone's color of 2022, associated with inventiveness and creativity, Viva Magenta -- code name Pantone 18-1750 -- aims to establish a new dynamic, writing "a new narrative," between power and exuberance. That's right, all that. One should note, in regards to the description provided by Pantone, this hybrid color between crimson, purple and pink is only defined with ultra positive superlatives. It's enough to make us want to plunge headlong into the future, and embrace this new vision that at the moment seems far off -- very far off -- from the ambient gloom of recent months, or even years.

"Brave and fearless, a pulsating color whose exuberance promotes a joyous and optimistic celebration... It is an animated red that revels in pure joy, encouraging experimentation and self-expression without restraint, an electrifying, and a boundless shade," outlines Pantone on its website. And not to spoil anything, it is also "a color that is audacious, full of wit and inclusive of all.. " A symbol of a great year ahead, then.

Magentaverse

But Viva Magenta also reflects another part of our evolving narrative, navigating between the physical and virtual. A hybrid shade in short, which incarnates the changes to come in our daily lives. "Tapping into the experimental spirit of Viva Magenta, Pantone explores the dynamic between Artificial Intelligence and human creativity to create 'The Magentaverse' available to the public for the first time," Pantone outlines.

But be aware that it's not about forgetting what's essential, nature, which we all need to reconnect with. "In this age of technology, we look to draw inspiration from nature and what is real. "Rooted in the primordial, Pantone 18-1750 Viva Magenta reconnects us original matter. Invoking the forces of nature, [it] galvanizes our spirit, helping us to build our inner strength," says Leatrice Eiseman, executive director of the Pantone Color Institute.

Also read: A mix of softness and exuberance, Pantone Color Institute unveils the colours of summer 2022

Fashion will have to make some adjustments

The designers of major fashion labels have not yet unveiled their collections for fall-winter 2023, but last fall we did get a preview of the inspirations for the next spring-summer ... And looking back on them, it's clear that Viva Magenta, or any other color close to this shade, wasn't really in the spotlight. With regard to the trends defined by fashion search engine Tagwalk, which works to screen the shows of the various Fashion Weeks, the main shades making news for that season are cobalt blue, pastels, lilac, silver, fluorescent, gold, orange, and possibly transparent, which will be part of the game.

Still, many celebrities didn't wait for the announcement of the color of the year 2023 to appropriate Viva Magenta, such as Chiara Ferragni who has worn it in accents; Selena Gomez who sported a satin version during the premiere of her documentary "My Mind & Me" at the AFI Film Festival in Los Angeles, and Kate Middleton who, according to the Instagram accounts her fans have dedicated to her looks, quite regularly sports the color of the year to come.