Each year, Pantone, the industry spot colour standard, releases a 'Colour of the Year.' For 2024 it's the very attractive Peach Fuzz and here are a few examples of this warm, fuzzy tint which is sure to find its way into many labels, ads, textiles and signs.
A soft, pinkish-orange hue called “Peach Fuzz” is Pantone’s pick for the 2024 color of the year, the company announced last week.
Officially called “Pantone 13-1023 Peach Fuzz,” the color is “velvety,” “gentle” and “subtly sensual,” according to Pantone.
Pantone is best known for its color-matching system, created in the 1960s, that numbers and organizes hues with a distinct chip format. The company, part of the Danaher Group that also owns X-Rite, also runs the Pantone Color Institute, which selects the color of the year and conducts color trend forecasting research.
This year’s choice “echoes our innate yearning for closeness and connection,” says Leatrice Eiseman, executive director of the Pantone Color Institute, in a statement. 
Pantone's Peach Fuzz is sure to be in all our lives in 2024
“We chose a color radiant with warmth and modern elegance,” she adds. “A shade that resonates with compassion, offers a tactile embrace and effortlessly bridges the youthful with the timeless.”
The Pantone Color Institute named its color of the year, declaring our need for compassion and human connection in the year ahead. Pantone describes the orange-pink hue as gentle, warm and cozy, subtly sensual and heartfelt.
In its media release, Pantone declares: "In seeking a hue that echoes our innate yearning for closeness and connection, we chose a color radiant with warmth and modern elegance. A shade that resonates with compassion, offers a tactile embrace, and effortlessly bridges the youthful with the timeless."
Pantone claims that colors of the year end up shaping product development and consumer decisions in fashion, industrial and interior design, product packaging and other industry areas. Last year's colour of the year was 'Viva Magenta' and 2022's was 'Very Peri.'
Interestingly, the dictionary definition of 'Peach Fuzz' is: "Peach fuzz is the name given to the soft, small hairs also known as vellus hair that can be anywhere on your body. Most often, peach fuzz refers to those little baby hairs on your face, especially your upper lip, cheek, or chin."
The great Hollywood icon Marilyn Monroe used her 'peach fuzz' to the camera's advantage. Monroe expert Gene London noted: ''She had the heaviest peach fuzz of any actress in Hollywood. [Studio chiefs] wanted to remove the facial hair but Marilyn absolutely refused. She said that when the light hit the fuzz it caused her face to have a soft glow, so they didn't have to photograph her through special lenses, lace, or Vaseline the way they did with so many stars.''
So there you have it - if Peach Fuzz was good enough for Marilyn, Pantone is sure to be on a winner here and 2024 will be blessed with Peach Fuzz everywhere.
