NEW YORK—2020 may be a year like one we’ve never seen before, but there’s one thing we can always count on, no matter how strange a year has been: Pantone’s color of the year. Each year, the Pantone Color Institute declares a Color of the Year—a color that it believes forecasts the trends and emotions of the coming year. This year, the Pantone Color Institute team changed things up a little bit and chose two colors: PANTONE 17-5104 Ultimate Gray + PANTONE 13-0647 Illuminating, a bold yellow and a strong grey.

The Color Institute said, “Emboldening the spirit, the pairing of PANTONE 17-5104 Ultimate Gray + PANTONE 13-0647 highlights our innate need to be seen, to be visible, to be recognized, to have our voices heard.


Pantone’s Colors of the Year for 2021 are Illuminating and Ultimate Grey. Image via pantone on Instagram.




“A combination of color whose ties to insight, innovation and intuition, and respect for wisdom, experience, and intelligence inspires regeneration, pressing us forward toward new ways of thinking and concepts.” Leatrice Eiseman, the Institue’s executive director called the combination “practical and rock solid but at the same time warming and optimistic.”

The color combination anticipates trends for the year ahead—but some eyewear companies have already embraced this bold, exciting combination.

From Safilo’s BOSS, style 1251 combines the color combination with a trendy ombré effect, slowly revealing the optimistic yellow at the bottom of the frame. Image courtesy of Safilo. 


 

Andy Wolf Eyewear’s 4762 08 takes on the grey and gold combination in an edgier way, creating a multi-layered, double take-worthy style. Image courtesy of Andy Wolf Eyewear.

STATE Optical adapted the trend to fit its iconic aesthetic, with golden tortoise temples and a clear, grey frame front. Image via stateopticalco on Instagram. 



Theo Eyewear’s Potatismos is a bold take on the trend, with an electric yellow front in a navigator shape and grey temple tips to bring the style back down to Earth in a subtle way. Image via theoeyewear on Instagram.  

 
 Ørgreen showcased the trend in a sun style, Scenario, with a rounded yellow front and grey temple tips. Image via orgreenoptics on Instagram.