The Pantone Color Institute, the standard-setting authority on color, surveys experts and examines evolutions within multiple industries to forecast each season’s color trends. Across the globe, designers, buyers, and CEO’s anticipate Pantone’s Fashion Color Report as a major market indicator. The palettes highlighted in these reports translate to goods from bedspreads to ball gowns, upholstery to eye shadow, in countless color-conscious sectors.  

  This week, as the year of Marsala moves to a close, Pantone has released its Spring 2016 Fashion Color Report. The ten key shades for next spring are collectively titled “A Transporting and Transformative Canvas.” Leatrice Eiseman, Executive Director of the Pantone Color Institute, explains that these colors can “transport us to a happier, sunnier place where we feel free to express a wittier version of our real selves.”  

  From left to right above, the range includes: Rose Quartz, Peach Echo, Serenity, Snorkel Blue, Buttercup, Limpet Shell, Fiesta, Iced Coffee, and Green Flash. Unisex by design, they alternately excite and calm, inspired by art, architecture, travel, and a “desire to disconnect from technology and unwind.”  

  "With our culture still surrounded by so much uncertainty, we are continuing to yearn for those softer shades that offer a sense of calm and relaxation,” says Eiseman. Among the more calming selections, we love the complimentary trio of Rose Quartz, Serenity, and Lilac Gray.  

  Bolder shades include Fiesta and Snorkel Blue – the latter representing our prediction for a breakout color – that can be counterbalanced with the addition of Iced Coffee. Explore the full Pantone Fashion Color Report for Spring 2016 here. Pantone Universe products are also available, perfectly packaged to paint our personal universes in the prescribed palette. All images via Pantone.com.