The self and internet affirmed color experts, Pantone, have spoken. And per their declaration, the color to set the tone for the next year is... white?

Cloud Dancer (that's aesthetic for angel) is the technical term. "An ethereal white hue, PANTONE 11-4201 CLOUD DANCER serves as a symbol of calming influence in a frenetic society, rediscovering the value of measured reconsideration. Similar to a blank canvas, Cloud Dancer signifies our desire for a fresh start." Pantone Color Institute VP announced in a press release earlier this month. The decision isn't completely left-field. White and cream dominated the runway across brands. And we saw firsthand the craze for white maxi skirts and wifebeaters throughout this summer. Yet still, trend recaps and optimistic messaging couldn't stop the inevitable eyebrow raising across the cultural landscape. With DEI programs dismantled nationwide, families of color are being thrown all over the world, and post-"Good Jeans" controversy? The consensus seems to be that while not inherently wicked, the choice appears out of touch and not the time.  After all, decisions aren't made in a vacuum. Not in 2025. 

The desire for a new perspective is certainly felt, especially thinking about fashion. Trends feel exhausted, culture feels stagnant, and we're all itching for something that feels new yet familiar. A return. A blank slate. As we leave 2025, the year of the snake, it's the perfect time for reflection as we shed old habits and patterns in favor of ones that nurture the people we'll soon become. So, in the spirit of renewal and transformation, we've decided to look back at culture-shifting moments in fashion history featuring the new year's supposed signature shade. Hopefully, inspiring new intentions and new resolutions as we enter the year of the horse. 

McQueen 1999 No. 13

Shalom Harlow is the original cloud dancer of fashion when you think about it. Taking place at the turn of the century, as the rapidly shifting relationship between humanity and technology loomed overhead, McQueen offered a Sci-Fi marriage of the two—a visual demonstration of when body and technology exist as tools. Former ballerina-turned-model Harlow stands on an automated platform, a crisp white tulle dress vulnerably strapped to her body by two beige belts. As she rotates on the platform, a pair of robots borrowed from a car manufacturing plant sprays her dress bursts of black and green. It's a choreography that feels almost birthlike, watching the trio reach a mutual recognition of one another, augmenting each other's existences with intention and empathy. Critics say it was nearly impossible to find a dry eye in the house after Harlow disappeared into the blue and collapsed into the metaphorical arms of the audience. 

It was a beautiful, optimistic perspective of technology's role in society that perhaps could only exist with ignorance of what's soon to come. In 1999, the fear that tech would take over our jobs and livelihoods as a new century rolled around. Now, 26 years later, and we're still asking the same questions, albeit under very different circumstances. AI and algorithms are no longer a choice to opt into, but an expectation to follow. What followed is distrust of the image. But skepticism and annoyance alone, without exploration, do nothing to push culture forward. 

If Pantone says Cloud Dancer represents a blank canvas, then McQueen reminds us that a canvas is meant to be painted on, slashed, ripped from the frame, and staple-gunned somewhere it has no business being. He reminds us of a time when technology was still a playground, and we were all still curious, well-meaning kids playing in the sand. 

Maison Margiela Duvet Coat

White is popularly miscategorized as not technically a color. Often thought of as the absence of color, white is actually the simultaneous presence of all hues. No designer quite understands this like the house of Maison Margiela, where white has been a house code since their first collection in 1988. For Margiela, white as a color acts as a marker of time, a sign of the strength and fragility within its passage. There are countless examples of how the collective has used the color to subvert and storytell, but for now, we'll stay in 1999 and talk about the duvet coat, showcased in look 9 of their AW1999 collection. 

A collaboration with Italian bedding company, Featherlite, Margiela sewed arms into an already existing comforter to create a structure that still functions as a cover when off the body, but as an oversized coat when worn. The house designed interchangeable "duvet covers" to go over the coats, making the garment a body in itself. So much in the construction of the coat subverted expectations of garment production and structure of the time; creating high fashion from universal symbols, bringing the intimacy of the private space into the public sphere. But my interest is still piqued by the color, a stark snowy cloud. 

2025 has been the year of clean, defined, "timeless" pieces that are supposed to last years, while miraculously simultaneously showing no signs of age. White, however, is no enhancing disguise; no color reveals traces of the past quite like this. That same year, iconic fashion photographer shot street-style photos of Margiela enthusiasts sporting the duvet around New York City. By now, every true iteration of the coat is probably filthy; they probably became filthy right after these photos were taken. Though I'm sure they have countless stories to tell. White tempts the wearer with restraint, discipline, an avoidance of mess. But if there's one constant throughout every year, it's that life is a mess, a beautiful one at that. Margiela champions material quality while also embracing the stains of time, which feels like the ultimate tribute to human life. 

Willy Chavarria's HURON

 "The cacophony that surrounds us has become overwhelming, making it harder to hear the voices of our inner selves. A conscious statement of simplification, Cloud Dancer enhances our focus, providing release from the distraction of external influences". Per Pantone's description, Cloud Dancer acts as representation for a collective need for calm. But honestly, is calm really what we need right now?

What feels more fruitful and necessary right now, rather than calm, is resolution; which requires reflection, organization, and action. Intervention, opposed to simplification. Titled after his hometown, Mexican-American designer Willy Chavarria's SS26 runway show Huron, is the heartbreaking intervention we all needed to see. 

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On June 27 2025, 35 models solemnly entered the Salle Pleye Concert Hall. In a single file line, the bodies slowly took formation: shaved heads, dressed in oversized white tees and shorts, dropped to their knees and placed their hands behind their back. The gesture directly recreates images shared from El Salvador CECOT prison, where the Trump Administration has been illegally detaining and incarcerating immigrants under the false pretense of the Alien Enemies Act of 1798. The white shirts were made in collaboration with the ACLU (American Civil Liberties Union), an organization Chavarria has worked with closely since the beginnings of his label. The shirt's inner tag evokes a quiet vow of solidarity between designer and wearer, the label reading, "THE ACLU DARES TO CREATE A MORE PERFECT UNION - BEYOND ONE PERSON, PARTY, OR SIDE". 

Surface level brand collabs, viral micro trends, and creative director musical chairs made fashion feel like a whirlpool this year. So much to look at, with so little to say about what's actually happening around us. While brands scramble for cultural relevance through superficial symbols of coolness, Chavarria speaks to what's happening to the culture. His protest, a brave confrontation, is a true embodiment of the future that Pantone proposes. A well-needed reminder that fashion is a language, a highly political one at that. The visible body behaves as canvas, every step an opportunity to say something. What we choose to say is up to us, but what we choose not screams out just as loudly.