You’ve noticed the iconic hue all around town, popping up more and more as you shop for your summer wardrobe, browse new titles at the bookstore, and even when you order a drink from Starbucks–yes, ladies and gentlemen, millennial pink is everywhere. While all the craze over this coral color seems to have appeared overnight, I’m here to channel my inner Miranda Priestly and let you know that the obsession with millennial pink has been long in the making, and I’ve got the receipts to prove it.
Though the millennial pink trend really began to pick up steam in 2016, it was first introduced to the fashion world in 2013 when designer Ryan Roche was nominated FDA/Vogue Fashion Fund; as a huge fan of the color, she decided to wear millennial pink to all of her interviews and awards ceremonies, making it a signature color of up-and-coming millennials. Her tailored timing was impeccable, as millennial pink-empowered brands such as the lifestyle brand Yes Way Rosé and the cult makeup brand Glossier launched later that year. The color eventually made its way across international waters in 2014, when a number of Scandinavian designers started to use the color in their work.
At this point, millennial pink is well on its way to cementing its legendary status: from Wes Anderson’s The Grand Budapest Hotel to the Insta-worthy tea room at the Sketch London, the color is making waves, enough so that The Color Marketing Group chooses millennial pink as 2016’s emerging color. Their decision only helped the color spread even more, leaving its rose-tinted mark on everything from those Thinx underwear ads to Drake’s Hotline Bling album cover. In short, it’s everywhere!
So, why is millennial pink so damn popular? Experts have a few theories: that it’s a fun and fresh color during some particularly dark political times, that the color is fairly gender-neutral and is socially acceptable for all genders and sexual orientations, that it’s a throwback to the Technicolor vibes of the 80’s and 90’s, that it just looks good in Instagram photos. Whatever the reason, millennial pink’s popularity shows no signs of slowing down, so go buy yourself a Starbucks pink drink and soak in the fun!
