Trends in Design and Architecture
By The New York Times
March 5, 2018
Translating Pantone’s Color of the Year
If 2018 has a color, what is it? According to Benjamin Moore, it’s sizzling red Caliente. Sherwin-Williams asserts the watery teal of Oceanside. But the most closely watched arbiter of color, Pantone, has selected Ultra Violet — a deep, moody purple that the company claims reflects the cosmos, artistic brilliance and spiritual reflection.
Since Pantone announced its Color of the Year in December, retailers and manufacturers have been peddling enough purple products to encourage the look of running a grape press in your living room. There is the tufted MCD sofa from Ligne Roset (from $3,380) and classic Carl Hansen & Son CH24 Wishbone chair updated in lavender lacquer (from $595); the violet Louis Poulsen Panthella Mini lamp ($430) and Flos Taccia lamp ($995); the eggplant-hued Nude Beak glass carafe ($92); purple ombré Glow place mats from Chilewich ($20); and even a purple-blasted BlueStar Platinum Series range ($12,424) and Big Chill Retropolitan refrigerator ($3,995).
Many of these products are not so much Ultra Violet as plain old purple (no word on whether the celestial and creative properties still apply). For a splash of the exact color, there is the Pantone-branded Deneb pendant lamp ($60), curiously the smallest, and only, product available in the hue from the larger Pantone lighting range.
“It’s a risky color,” said Kare Arndt de Thurah, the creative director of e3light, which partnered with Pantone on the collection. But, “David Bowie, Prince and Jimi Hendrix loved the color, so hopefully some of the fans will buy it.” Tim McKeough
