Pretty in Millennial Pink
This article appeared in colore #bonbonrosa
Cover image: @istockphoto_vejaa
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Pink has entered the realm of the respectable. Previously belittled as a Barbie and baby color, it is now ubiquitous. Pantone declared Rose Quartz as Color of the Year back in 2016, and pastel pink has been everywhere since. Some believe it became fashionable in the wake of Wes Anderson's pastel-tinged 2014 tragicomedy film "Grand Budapest Hotel". The film can be interpreted as a parable of a well-to-do yet lost generation, perhaps an homage to Generation Y in pink? Does that explain why precisely this generation has claimed the color for itself?
Everything in the pink
Where does this pink pandemonium come from? Nobody knows, but it's certainly hard to imagine cosmetics, fashion and interior design - everyday life - without the Millennial Pink color trend. Particularly in the Instagram and Pinterest accounts of 18- to 35-year olds, the millennials who inspired the name Millennial Pink, the color is ubiquitous.
Those born in the last fifth of the last century like to see their photos, clothes, and themselves through a pink filter. It consists of a pastel shade residing between peach, salmon, and rose; without blue, and with a touch of gray. It's not exactly painful, is easy to match, soft and likeable, and may even be a reaction to a time of crisis?
Fashion beyond gender
Distinguished designers from Prada to Gucci have in recent years brought their models to the runway in a millennial-pink-powder look, a color that also caught a lot of eyes at the 2016 Milan Design Week. Even at the Milan furniture fair in 2017 one of the most popular displays, "Le Refuge" by Marc Ange, was a bed in Millennial Pink, also called Tumblr Pink, with a canopy made of palm leaves.
And then there are those who, beyond fashion, see an expression of modern feminism in the color, post-gender and without fear of stigma. They dare to flaunt a low-key color on their banner, which is also worn by young ladies and young men alike (the color, not the banner...).
An old hat in architecture
The color shade is actually not so new, and has certainly come up before in architecture. In Frank Lloyd Wright's 1930s drawings for the Guggenheim Museum in New York there were proposals for pink, called Wright Shell Pink (the museum was inspired by a nautilus shell), and Wright Flesh Pink in his Taliesin West palette. And Ricardo Bofill in 1973 also rendered his apartment complex "La Muralla Roja" in Calpe in magnificent pink.
What's next for pink?
First of all, Millennial Pink will march on – Pantone recently selected Living Coral as Color of the Year, which is not dissimilar and painlessly integrates into the millennial-pink esprit. And in the world of fashion a light violet, Millennial Purple, seems to be the heir apparent to Millennial Pink. Perhaps Generation X can also better identify with purple. And for those who find it all a bit bland, Pantone is betting on Scarlet Red and Saffron Yellow for spring and summer 2020.
