"Millennial pink was one of those important colors that captured the zeitgeist," Jenny Clark, head of color at WGSN, told Insider. "It pushed the boundaries to become a color which was gender neutral and it felt empowering, youthful, playful, and, most importantly, wearable."
Millennials love millennial pink and energetic shades
Generation Y consumers, better known as millennials, were born between 1981 and 1996.
You'll see a preference for these soft and almost pastel colors across the rainbow with “spearmint” green, “cantaloupe” orange, corals, and lavenders all common color palettes that attract millennials.
The color pink, for example, is thought to be a calming color associated with love, kindness, and femininity. Many people immediately associate the color pink with all things feminine and girly. It might also bring to mind romance and holidays such as Valentine's Day.
Rather than disappearing completely, millennial pink is definitely set to stick around — but just perhaps no longer in the main character role that it played before the pandemic.
In addition to red, pink shares a trait with yellow — it's associated with childishness and immaturity. Due to its modern, feminine associations, pink can also unfairly make people think something is too emotional and timid.
The trend can be traced back to Valentino's fall/winter 2022 runway show in Paris, during which the designer presented a collection of couture clad in hot pink.
The data revealed no evidence of preference for pink in infants. Yet beginning around age 2, boys and girls responded differently to the color: “Girls' liking for pink increased between 2 and 3 years of age and remained high through 4 years.
By adulthood, the pink/blue color preference shows less of a sex difference. Though women, compared to men, still show a marginally greater preference for pink, both male and female adults prefer blue to pink. This suggests a female preference for pink is not hardwired or sculpted by evolution.
Pink as a favorite color is said to represent a loving, kind, and sensitive individual, often with a strong nurturing and sensual side. Your romantic view of life is said to bring you to have idealistic standards. with a sweet, charming side that often makes you a delicate and lovable individual.
Millennials, the generation that includes those born between 1980 and 2003, are commonly described as lazy, poorly prepared and without aspirations.
Yellow. Yellow symbolizes happiness and warmth in almost all cultures. It's the color that grabs users' attention more than any other color. McDonald's and IKEA both use yellow in their branding to give off the feeling of friendliness and positivity.
Like Millennial Pink, Gen Z colors favor the eye-popping Cyber Lime (forecasted to be big in 2024) and Digital Lavender, also aligned with inclusivity. “[Cyber Lime] can speak to all, which Gen Z is very sensitive to,” said Guilbert.
Men usually perceive yellow as a very lighthearted, 'childish' color, so it is not recommended to use yellow when selling prestigious, expensive products to men—nobody will buy a yellow business suit or a yellow Mercedes.
If you want to experiment with looking younger, start out with reds, pinks, and purples. They all have a youthful vibrancy to them that is widely recognized."
Millennial pink is a pale, rosy pink color with the hex code #F3CFC6, made with almost equal parts magenta and yellow in the CMYK color scheme.
Think pink is just for little girls? It's not. In several studies, pink scored highest with men because it's seen as feminine and ultra-girly.
The Color Red
In a series of seven experiments conducted at the University of Rochester and published in the Journal of Experimental Psychology, women were more sexually attracted to men who were wearing red or were pictured against a red background.
The colors change
It wasn't until the 1940s that manufacturers went in the opposite direction and decided that pink was for girls, and blue was for boys.
Studies reveal that red is the most attractive colour to both men and women but, curiously, the two genders are attracted to the same colour for different reasons.
For the U.S., the average for men and women came a bit older than the mean, with 31 being the most beautiful age for women, and 34 for being the most beautiful for men.
Men and women look their best in their thirties, experts say
The study, carried out by Allure magazine, found women are considered most beautiful at 30, show signs of ageing at 41, stop looking 'sexy' at 53 and are thought of as 'old' at 55.
The rich pink shade is expected to be everywhere in 2023 as Pantone has just announced that Viva Magenta is the new Color of the Year, so to prepare your wardrobe, L'Officiel has selected some of the hottest pieces to shop for your perfect pink outfit.
The Spring 2023 Color Trend Report. Yup, hot pink makes an appearance. Jump to category: An Array of Azure.
The baby boomers in the 1940s were the first to be dressed in the sex-specific clothing that Americans are familiar with today. Boys and girls were dressed like miniature men and women instead of uniformly in children's dresses. Pink became the girls' color, blue the boys'.