What Is Pantone’s Role in Fashion?

Pantone’s influence in fashion goes far beyond swatches and shade numbers. Its Pantone Fashion, Home + Interiors System (FHI) is specifically designed to help designers communicate color accurately across textiles, materials, and surfaces. The FHI system provides a universal color language, which allows designers, manufacturers, and retailers around the world to stay aligned—even when working with different materials or across continents.

From concept to consumer, Pantone helps ensure that a designer’s vision stays true from sketch to store shelf.

Color of the Year: Fashion's Forecast

Each year, Pantone announces its Color of the Year, which becomes a major talking point in the fashion industry. This color often sets the tone for upcoming seasonal palettes and influences what you’ll see in stores, magazines, and social media.

For example:

• 2022’s “Very Peri” symbolized innovation and creativity.

• 2023’s “Viva Magenta” celebrated courage and vitality.

• 2024’s “Peach Fuzz” is a soft, velvety peach tone evoking comfort and compassion—a nod to slower living and emotional wellness.

Designers often incorporate the Color of the Year into collections to reflect these broader cultural messages and connect with audiences on an emotional level.

Pantone at Fashion Week

Major fashion weeks in New York, London, Milan, and Paris often align closely with Pantone’s seasonal color forecasts. Pantone works with fashion trend forecasters and color experts to release seasonal trend reports before each fashion season. These reports highlight the top 10 colors designers are using in their collections, offering a preview of what will dominate the market.

Whether it’s the vibrant oranges of a spring/summer palette or the earthy neutrals of autumn/winter, these curated colors guide designers, buyers, and editors alike.

Collaborations and Branding

Pantone’s iconic look—solid blocks of color with signature number tags—has become a design aesthetic in its own right. The brand has collaborated with fashion labels, sneaker brands, and beauty companies to create limited-edition products in specific Pantone shades.

These collaborations blend color science with street style, showing how Pantone is not just behind the scenes but also a pop-culture icon.

Why It Matters

Color decisions in fashion aren’t random—they’re strategic. The right hue can set a mood, attract a customer, and define a brand. Pantone helps make these decisions smarter and more cohesive by:

• Providing precise color references across materials

• Predicting global color trends

• Offering tools for innovation in textiles and prints

For designers and brands, Pantone is an essential partner in crafting a collection that’s both on-trend and on-message.

Conclusion

Pantone doesn’t just predict color trends in fashion—it helps create them. By bridging art, science, and culture, Pantone empowers the fashion world to speak a shared language of color, season after season.