Radiant Orchid is the New Black
December 6, 2013 7:38 PM   Subscribe

Pantone's committee of designers and fashion mavens have declared that the 2014 color of the year will be Radiant Orchid. Sherwin Williams and Benjamin Moore disagree.

Glamour, Vogue and InStyle react to Pantone's declaration. Meanwhile The Daily Mail points to the power of Michelle Obama
posted by humanfont (79 comments total) 5 users marked this as a favorite
 
Hmmm! A brouhaha in the colorsphere!

I think Radiant Orchid really has a lot going for it. "Exclusive Plum," with a mindboggling name ("Step away from that plum, peon!"..."Our plums are from an ...(ahem) restricted community"), is a fine-looking if unremarkable color. Breath of Fresh Air is almost a non-color.

Let the critiques ensue! It's interesting to see some Pantone rebellion. I thought last year's Emerald domination did beg for an insurgency or popular revolt of some form.
posted by Miko at 7:43 PM on December 6, 2013 [2 favorites]


I LIKE! Also Breath of Fresh Air. But sorry Sherwin Williams, exclusive plum is decidedly meh.
posted by elizardbits at 7:44 PM on December 6, 2013 [1 favorite]


It looks like something from a gynecologist's waiting room.
posted by elizardbits at 7:44 PM on December 6, 2013 [8 favorites]


Radiant Orchid is what they call me back at the Ranch.
posted by Sticherbeast at 7:45 PM on December 6, 2013 [15 favorites]


I like how Glamour is all, immediately LET US WELCOME OUR NEW RADIANT ORCHID OVERLORDS AND HERE IS THE NAIL POLISH.
posted by Miko at 7:45 PM on December 6, 2013 [6 favorites]


Pantone's marketing has been in overdrive the last few years. They used to be relegated to the realm of design nerds but now so many people know the brand name and they're doing all these stunty things like color of the year, etc.

I like design and marketing so no worries here but...don't like that orchid color. No way it would look good on me (tan skin, total washout).
posted by sweetkid at 7:48 PM on December 6, 2013 [4 favorites]


I say it's purple, and I say the hell with it.

Orange 4ever!
posted by maudlin at 7:48 PM on December 6, 2013 [9 favorites]


Well, it's a good orchid. I don't know if it's a RADIANT orchid.
posted by Purposeful Grimace at 7:48 PM on December 6, 2013 [5 favorites]


It's TERRIFIC! It's WONDERFUL! Farmer Zuckerman should never kill that orchid to make...orchid bacon.
posted by Miko at 7:49 PM on December 6, 2013 [18 favorites]


I feel this is the appropriate time to remind everyone that flowers are the GARISH SEX ORGANS of plants

so technically radiant orchid is really SHINY VAGINY
posted by elizardbits at 7:53 PM on December 6, 2013 [63 favorites]


Whatever. If it's purple; it's good. Period. Puce? (hell no, just the word disqualifies it) Pus Yellow? Blood Red? Deep Purple (taken)? Now, gray: that's always a good fashion choice, but it doesn't "pop", as color fashionistas like to say. Pop. Ughh. Stop, please. Turquoise, good, but played out.

Check out the book Primary Colors. (Not the political version.) It's a revelation. (Out of print, but not hard to buy.)

Oh, and Sherwin Williams "Plum?" It's fucking gray! More purple!
posted by kozad at 7:55 PM on December 6, 2013 [2 favorites]


In our house (at least the living room) the color of the year is Caliente.
posted by swift at 7:56 PM on December 6, 2013 [1 favorite]


I like how Glamour is all, immediately LET US WELCOME OUR NEW RADIANT ORCHID OVERLORDS AND HERE IS THE NAIL POLISH.

Except that the stuff Glamour is selling isn't even that color!
posted by immlass at 8:03 PM on December 6, 2013 [1 favorite]


Skol.
posted by Sphinx at 8:06 PM on December 6, 2013 [1 favorite]


I've been pushing for "Farmed Salmon", but got no traction.
posted by R. Mutt at 8:06 PM on December 6, 2013 [4 favorites]


All these articles and not one mention of the fact Breaking Bad finished the year before. This is no coincidence. Marie is a tastemaker.
posted by squinty at 8:06 PM on December 6, 2013 [15 favorites]


We're planning sort of a mango year. Gotta paint the den. The color it is now is emphatically not ever the color of any year in any millennia in any timestream or AU. The Doctor could travel far and wide and never run into a year for which this color is the color.
Oh, and that plum, it's not plum. It's the color my mother taught me when I was wee: phleh. Just say it. You will be able to picture what color it is as soon as you do. Just phleh.
posted by Biblio at 8:10 PM on December 6, 2013


So that's two votes for purple, and one vote for blue. Baby Blue. Wait, Breaking Bad ended in 2013, it should be the color for this year not next year. Silly paint company.

Why yes I did study color theory in college for a semester. It's still purple.
posted by inthe80s at 8:15 PM on December 6, 2013 [1 favorite]


well I guess this is as good a color as any for my year of reading pink-obsessed Proust

he's really more of a mauven though

I'll get my coat
posted by Rustic Etruscan at 8:28 PM on December 6, 2013 [2 favorites]


Breath of Fresh Air is basically haint blue.
posted by penduluum at 8:36 PM on December 6, 2013 [2 favorites]


This is excellent news for me. Over a year ago I ruthlessly culled my wardrobe a la the Vivienne Files and everything is now black, gray, and somewhere on the red-purple spectrum. So I am anticipating that shopping will be a relative non-nightmare for the next year or so, yay! Although I have to agree that this particular shade is a bit gynecologist-y.
posted by HotToddy at 8:37 PM on December 6, 2013 [1 favorite]


Breath of Fresh Air is weak. But I hate blue, especially wimpy blue. Benjamin Moore disappoints me.
posted by bongo_x at 8:52 PM on December 6, 2013 [1 favorite]


Exclusive Plum is great but no, no, no to Radiant Orchid. I will never question Michelle Obama's style and I like it for clothes, but too lavendery (for my taste) for walls.
posted by triggerfinger at 8:58 PM on December 6, 2013 [1 favorite]


I understand buying a few accent pieces for home or wardrobe in the hot colour, but doesn't the whole "painting a room this year's "hot" colour" thing end with rooms looking dated quickly?

I'm thinking of the harvest gold & avocado appliances of the 70's, that awful 'teal' colour from the 80's, or that weird 'mauve' from the 1990's that looked to be the colour of a healthy liver.

Or maybe that's just me being bitter about needing 3 coats of paint to get rid of the 'velveeta cheese' coloured walls in my dining room after I bought my house.
posted by dotgirl at 9:19 PM on December 6, 2013 [3 favorites]


Radiant.

That's some pigment.
posted by wabbittwax at 9:19 PM on December 6, 2013 [29 favorites]


I understand buying a few accent pieces for home or wardrobe in the hot colour, but doesn't the whole "painting a room this year's "hot" colour" thing end with rooms looking dated quickly?

Well, it’s certainly not going to be timeless, but wall paint isn’t really meant to be a lifetime thing.
posted by bongo_x at 9:26 PM on December 6, 2013 [2 favorites]


Great. Just great. Radiant Orchid. Little Union ultrasoft brite blue, some Wilflex flo pink, some cardinal red & 20-30% opaque white. Now. Would you PLEASE PUT THE FAN BOOKS BACK IN NUMERICAL ORDER?!
posted by Devils Rancher at 9:29 PM on December 6, 2013 [5 favorites]


Well, it’s certainly not going to be timeless, but wall paint isn’t really meant to be a lifetime thing.

Consume, CONSUME!
posted by Literaryhero at 9:29 PM on December 6, 2013 [9 favorites]


I'm looking for a wall colour for our dining room to coordinate with a yellow & grey living room. Radiant orchid doesn't speak to me.
posted by ThatCanadianGirl at 9:36 PM on December 6, 2013


It's pastel purple and as someone who just spent the entire morning looking at solid-color dye swatches for a clothing line, no that's not gonna fly in our market.

Nothing is more gag-inducing than reading color trend forecasting descriptions. Sometimes I just want to rip the twee out of these people.
posted by TWinbrook8 at 10:06 PM on December 6, 2013 [5 favorites]


Pantone's committee of designers and fashion mavens have declared that the 2014 color of the year will be Radiant Orchid. Sherwin Williams and Benjamin Moore disagree.

Glamour, Vogue and InStyle react to Pantone's declaration. Meanwhile The Daily Mail points to the power of Michelle Obama


the way to prevent this, Vogue and InStyle, is not to react to declarations of the 'color of the year.'

Don't respond to linkbait.
posted by Ironmouth at 10:07 PM on December 6, 2013


Ugh I still have to catch up on the Oxblood Mania of 2012.

Life is so hard.
posted by The Whelk at 10:14 PM on December 6, 2013


Farmer Zuckerman should never kill that orchid to make...orchid bacon.

If Caesar Flickerman says this is the new color of the next games I'm just boycotting you know.
posted by The Whelk at 10:17 PM on December 6, 2013 [1 favorite]


Judging by my sartorial choices the color of the year is blue. Last year's color of the year was a slightly different shade of blue. The year before that's blue was bluier.
posted by Justinian at 10:52 PM on December 6, 2013 [2 favorites]


Radiant. That's some pigment.

Radium Orchid is a garish bright green. Tacky. So 1917.
posted by justsomebodythatyouusedtoknow at 11:09 PM on December 6, 2013


I swear I saw the title line for this post and assumed RADIANT ORCHID was the latest cover named outrage leaked by Snowden.
posted by Emperor SnooKloze at 11:26 PM on December 6, 2013 [1 favorite]


Holy crap everyone involved in everything linked to here should feel bad. Existentially haunted & ridden with terrible guilt.

Spoilers for Peter Watts' Blindsight: So in that story the aliens turn out to have evolved superhuman intelligence but no consciousness. They're doing their thing in space and then humans come up and start blaring out all sorts of arts and entertainment. Having no sense of self, the aliens' communications are terse bits of relevant data. They have no idea what to do with a sitcom or Shakespeare. Eventually they decide the transmissions are basically contentless, actually an attack designed to get them to waste time and processing power, so they set out to eliminate the threat. So yeah.
posted by save alive nothing that breatheth at 11:44 PM on December 6, 2013 [3 favorites]


Violet is my favourite colour, but this antacid mauve is a big NO for me.
posted by LMGM at 11:45 PM on December 6, 2013


I am all for this color.
posted by jenfullmoon at 11:47 PM on December 6, 2013


My mom would have loved it. They should dig up her corpse and redecorate her box. Best use of fashionistas ever imagined!
posted by Goofyy at 12:09 AM on December 7, 2013 [1 favorite]


So, the colour of the year is... grandma leisure-suit purple?

Just who, exactly, forms 'Pantone's committee of designers and fashion mavens'? Are they fond of baking cookies? Do they smell like lavender? Do they have rosy cheeks and shiny false teeth?
posted by The River Ivel at 3:20 AM on December 7, 2013 [2 favorites]


Personally, I prefer Sex on the Floor.
posted by Quilford at 3:55 AM on December 7, 2013 [1 favorite]


The Glamour journalist must be color-blind..
posted by mumimor at 4:15 AM on December 7, 2013


2014 color of the year will be Radiant Orchid

Dear God, no.
posted by Grangousier at 4:17 AM on December 7, 2013


There are a bunch of purple orchids but there are also a bunch of orchids not purple. This page's illustration is a white orchid.

(Orchid is not a specific color some weasels may argue.)
posted by bukvich at 4:55 AM on December 7, 2013


I gotta say, Radiant Orchid and Exclusive Plum and Breath of Fresh Air do look like they go together rather well.

A Victorian-esque ladies' jacket, tightly cinched in the waist, in Radiant Orchid, with Exclusive Plum trim and a Breath of Fresh Air blouse and cravat with an amethyst stick pin the exact colour of Radiant Orchid in a weathered silver clasp.

Actually, wait, where have I seen something like that before?
posted by Katemonkey at 6:04 AM on December 7, 2013 [2 favorites]


Judging by my sartorial choices the color of the year is blue.

I have to care about these kinds of pronouncements because of my job, and Dazzling Blue was the favorite for Pantone's Color of the Year after Fashion Week. It's been a while since Pantone chose a blue, so your year might be coming up!
posted by gladly at 6:20 AM on December 7, 2013 [1 favorite]


It's just getting designers on the same page every year, is all.


I like purple. I like color and color theory. It's fun.
posted by St. Alia of the Bunnies at 6:20 AM on December 7, 2013


It's just getting designers on the same page every year, is all.

I think we understand the industry purpose but can still laugh at the attempt to get everyone to fall into lockstep about what This Year's Colors are. It is a completely consumerist endeavor that works in opposition to designers' own creativity.
posted by Miko at 6:27 AM on December 7, 2013


I'm just glad it's not orange. And while I don't care for pastels, purple is the only color outside of black and grey that I approve of. The lipstick iterations seem to have been A Thing for a few years now. My hair is currently a bit darker than this color. Overall, a thumbs-up from me, though I'll probably go for darker versions like the ones in the Glamour article.

Women's fashion is such a bizarre thing because even if you don't care you're kind of held hostage by it. I had to explain to my husband that the reason I buy all my clothing during the fall/winter season is because otherwise all I can find are grody light-colored capri pants and tops in whatever nightmare trend colors exist at the time. And the gods help you if you have a preferred cut of jean and the trend is against that.
posted by Kitty Stardust at 6:39 AM on December 7, 2013 [6 favorites]


It's true in men's fashion, too, just less obvious. God help you if your office shoes finally give up the ghost during one of the periodic "and now all shoes are square-toed" purges. Or the "now driving moccasins!" phase.
posted by sonic meat machine at 6:56 AM on December 7, 2013


From the wikipedia orchid page where you can visit Radiant and all its Orchid siblings:
Radiant Orchid (Pantone TPX 18-3224) (Hex: #B163A3) (RGB: 177, 99, 163)
posted by hexatron at 7:19 AM on December 7, 2013


Oh, and Sherwin Williams "Plum?" It's fucking gray! More purple

Yeah, but it's house paint. Take it from someone who learned the hard way -- that 1 inch by 1 inch swatch may look pretty dull at the store, but cover an entire wall with it, and it gets an actual fuckton or two brighter when you stand back from it. It's a matter of scale.
posted by Devils Rancher at 7:19 AM on December 7, 2013 [2 favorites]


I'm actually in the middle of a color crisis because I need to paint my walls but I have light floors and all dark furniture.....
posted by The Whelk at 7:53 AM on December 7, 2013


Yes, that Radiant Orchid is quite, radiant. I love the Plum, though the name is gag-inducing - marketers, don't be quite so blatant. My kitchen is a gray-purple I call twilight heather with ironic intent. So, anyway, orange seems done, and that's fine by me.
posted by theora55 at 9:04 AM on December 7, 2013


rip the twee out of these people - absolutely.
posted by theora55 at 9:07 AM on December 7, 2013


Dannon Blueberry Yoghurt.
posted by The corpse in the library at 9:16 AM on December 7, 2013 [1 favorite]


There actually does seem to be an upswing in purple in interior design but its a very dark, rich purple, not this twee 70s thing.
posted by The Whelk at 9:18 AM on December 7, 2013


Oh, pendulum, have we talked about haint blue here on Mefi? How it repels bugs as well as haints? My inlaws painted the underside of their patio roof haint blue and they haven't had spiderwebs or wasp nests since! They had a ton when it was a dull cream color. It's a little freaky.
posted by emjaybee at 9:20 AM on December 7, 2013


triggerfinger: "Exclusive Plum is great but no, no, no to Radiant Orchid. I will never question Michelle Obama's style and I like it for clothes, but too lavendery (for my taste) for walls."

If you click through to the swatch, you'll note that Exclusive Plum is basically grey with a twinge of purple, while Radiant Orchid is actually something approximating a color. I agree that it's too saturated to look good as a base color on the wall, though. My SO would disagree, however.
posted by wierdo at 10:06 AM on December 7, 2013


So the Metafilter color of the year is...* drum roll*... BLUE! Just like last year!
posted by happyroach at 10:16 AM on December 7, 2013 [3 favorites]


The Whelk: "I'm actually in the middle of a color crisis because I need to paint my walls but I have light floors and all dark furniture....."

When I had a similar problem, blue (on the slate greyish side) did the trick.
posted by Dr. Zira at 10:24 AM on December 7, 2013


Well, the colour of the year sure wasn't going to be "Red John" after that disappointing reveal on the Mentalist...
posted by Alexandra Kitty at 10:30 AM on December 7, 2013


I'm actually in the middle of a color crisis because I need to paint my walls but I have light floors and all dark furniture.....

Billiard green. Darker and bluer than emerald.
posted by purpleclover at 10:48 AM on December 7, 2013


(problem : red carpet ..looks christmasy . gah I'll take this to askme )
posted by The Whelk at 10:50 AM on December 7, 2013


I like Exclusive Plum. I hate the name. It's not plum, it's gray.

Those RGB values translate to Hue 194, Luminance 118, Saturation 10. You have to put it right next to saturation 0 to tell any difference (and the effect just makes the gray look green, and the so-called "plum" look like regular gray.

I have gray clothes that have more of a purple tone than that, and they're also just gray.
posted by Foosnark at 11:15 AM on December 7, 2013 [1 favorite]


To be fair I don't think paints and pigments particularly go off RGB values.
posted by save alive nothing that breatheth at 11:43 AM on December 7, 2013


Rule one for choosing colors: IGNORE THE NAME. Try not to even read it. Seriously, when looking at color chips, put your thumb over the damn name. No good will come of letting whatever they called it influence how you see it.
posted by George_Spiggott at 11:45 AM on December 7, 2013 [1 favorite]


Having said that, I'd love to be in the color naming game

#7119: Lightbulb Afterimage
#8801: Manky Shower Curtain Fringe
#2658: Gum Disease
posted by George_Spiggott at 11:53 AM on December 7, 2013 [2 favorites]


Wasn't everything that color like, six years ago? I hate purple, which is why I vividly remember the year of the dusty purple clothes explosion.

Maybe that was just Europe, though, and you guys are just now catching up.
posted by lydhre at 1:09 PM on December 7, 2013


Wait I want to talk more about Haint Blue. What is it? Does it really repel haints?
posted by KathrynT at 1:27 PM on December 7, 2013


Wasn't everything that color like, six years ago?

Don't be daft, that was Luminous Lilac. TOTALLY DIFFERENT
posted by George_Spiggott at 1:39 PM on December 7, 2013


KathrynT: "Wait I want to talk more about Haint Blue. What is it? Does it really repel haints?"

I think it's a rebranding of Taint Blue, which never really caught on.
posted by Dr. Zira at 2:02 PM on December 7, 2013


I am not formally educated in all these things choosing to go with what I like

BUT I vote for one thing here and that is that elizardbits is the person who names all our paint colors...Shiny Vaginy is the best.
posted by OhSusannah at 2:42 PM on December 7, 2013




Come on lads, let's get home, The Whelk's beginning to bruise, night must fall and we shall be forced to camp.
posted by Devils Rancher at 4:29 PM on December 7, 2013 [4 favorites]


Best cover him in Saran Wrap first or else he will fade to Orchid Gray or Orchid Mist.
posted by Dr. Zira at 9:14 PM on December 7, 2013


It should go over big in New Orleans because it's K & B purple. A local drugstore chain sold to Rite Aid in 1997 but people love purple here. I often said I moved here because it was the only place one could wear purple business clothes. At the time, it was. Purple, green and gold are the colors of Mardi Gras but K & B purple collectibles, such as an old prescription bottle with a cap in Radiant Orchid for $19.95 are still selling on E-bay.
posted by Anitanola at 3:14 PM on December 8, 2013


I like this for my bathroom, but it might need to be dialed back a couple degrees.
posted by computech_apolloniajames at 7:45 PM on December 8, 2013


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