Growing up in the 90’s there was no doubt that 2020 was the future and it was going to be glorious, from Inspector Gadget finger phones to Martian sunsets. Sadly our techno utopian fantasies have still not come to pass which is what Peter Thiel was thinking about when he said “We wanted flying cars, instead we got 140 characters”.
Yet here we are, firmly present in the future at the start of a new decade.
We're only a few days in and its already chaos: Australia is still on fire, a harbinger of the new normal the world faces from a radically altered climate; plus we’re once again on the brink of war in the Middle East. Gulp.
So it's no wonder that we're searching for something solid and dependable in the midst of all this upheaval. And according to Laurie Pressman from Pantone that's exactly where their Colour of the Year 2020 was born:
“From now and then [1999] there’s the same feeling of trepidation about the world. While technology races ahead often overwhelming us, it’s only natural that we gravitate to colors that bring a sense of peace, clarity and even protection” - Laurie Pressman, VP Pantone Color Institute
Introducing our limited edition release of 'Classic Blue'
Every year Pantone attracts it’s fair share of opinion about it’s colour crown and this year is no different. What started 20 years ago at the dawn of the new millennium with a shade of blue called ‘Cerulean’ has come full circle with ‘Classic Blue’.
Classic Blue has been variously described as both “the new black” by Mark Wilson and “the colour equivalent of watching Friends” by Evan Nicole Brown, both writing for FastCompany. But it was Michelle Ogundehin at Dezeen who best summarised the colour -
“Pantone’s Classic Blue is pitched somewhere in-between these mid sea blues and the falling ink of a dusky sky. A move away from the strictures and conformity of the darker shades, but just short of the happy-clappy-vibes simplicity of a child’s paint box blue.” - Michelle Ogundehin
Easy to wear and timeless.
Whilst it’s easy to dismiss Pantone’s choice this year as a politically safe bet after the fallout from 2019’s ‘Living Coral’, there’s no denying that blue is the most democratic of colours. And depending on the shade of blue it can mean pretty much all things to all people.
Indeed blue transcends both gender and season which makes it easy to wear today but also for years to come.
Because wherever you are on the surface of our pale blue dot, when you look up you see blue sky representing both the end of one day and the fresh start offered by tomorrow.
Elegant in its simplicity, Classic Blue highlights dependability, credibility and constancy - everything we don’t see when we manage to pull ourselves away from our screens and the slow-motion car crash of hyper partisan geopolitics.
TL;DR
All around the world we're at a critical juncture both politically and environmentally. No one seems to have the will to pursue the hard solutions and everyone is just trying to figure it out what that means...
Associated with optimism and positivity, Classic Blue is both genderless and timeless and a welcome refuge from the uncertainty of the new decade.
It’s hard to argue with blue.
Classic Blue is available now as a limited edition colour option on all styles in both our everyday weight 145 GSM Organic Cotton as well as our summer-friendly Hemp / Organic Cotton blend.