Pantone Selects 2023 Color of the Year, Viva Magenta

It’s the most wonderful time of the year—no, we’re not talking about the holidays (for once). We’re talking about Pantone’s Color of the Year announcement. They've selected Viva Magenta 18-1750 to be the hue of 2023. 

After a week of Instagram recaps highlighting the esteemed tones of previous years, the trend-forecasting company made its grand announcement with a party at Art Basel in Miami. Noted as a shade that “vibrates vim and vigor,” Pantone chose this particular color for 2023 because it’s “brave and fearless. It is a pulsating color whose exuberance promotes joyous and optimistic celebration, writing a new narrative.”

“This year’s Color of The Year is powerful and empowering,” Leatrice Eiseman, Executive Director of the Pantone Color Institute, says. “It is a new, animated red that revels in pure joy, encouraging experimentation and self-expression without restraint, an electrifying, and boundaryless shade that is manifesting as a stand-out statement."

Eiseman notes that Viva Magenta welcomes anyone and everyone in its embrace. "It is a color that is audacious, full of wit, and inclusive of all," she says.

Viva Magenta joins a growing list of brand-selected 2023 Colors of the Year that skew warm and are rooted in the natural world. And, much like recent picks from Benjamin Moore and Sherwin-Williams, Pantone points out that Viva Magenta is a solid part of the red family.

“It’s inspired by the red of cochineal, one of the most precious dyes belonging to the natural dye family as well as one of the strongest and brightest the world has known,” Pantone says.

Viva Magenta takes the crown from the 2022 Pantone Color of the Year, Very Peri. While last year’s shade was chosen to encourage personal inventiveness and creativity, the Color Institute hopes that this year’s hue will “galvanize our spirit, helping us to build our inner strength.”

Designers are also already taking note of the shade, and looking toward how to use Viva Magenta in the year ahead. Karin Sun, Bay Area-based textile veteran and founder of Crane & Canopy, shares that she is ready to kick off the near year with this shade.

“Start the new year by refreshing your space with pieces that incorporate this daring rosy-crimson red," she tells The Spruce. 'If you’re working with a mostly neutral canvas, opt for small accents that make a big statement, such as textured throw pillows.” 

Alternatively, if you’re eager to go big and go bold, Viva Magenta is the shade for you. “Consider a bigger overhaul—like painting an entire room this striking shade of magenta, paired with nude or light pink accents,” Sun says. “Or, use Viva Magenta for a complete bedding refresh, statement sofa, or a large, eye-catching throw rug to achieve a significant impact that’s a bit less permanent.”

Beth Travers, the founder of maximalist design house Bobo1325, is also a huge fan of Pantone's latest pick.

“There’s a great deal of force behind this color powerhouse," Travers says. "Magenta is often a color associated with romance, and its intensity evokes feelings of passion. Magenta is a free spirit, and this non-conforming magenta is the essence of originality."

With this in mind, Travers notes that Viva Magenta works well as an accent. "Its intensity and power can really draw the eye to where you want it, especially in botanical elements," she says. "It’s a little pop of passionate rebellion, standing out from the crowd in its individuality saying ‘I am here, I am me’—something that really resonates with me as a designer.”