Being January I always like to start the year with Pantone’s chosen colour. ‘Viva Magenta’ is this year’s choice and I absolutely love it!

The colour Viva Magenta belongs to the red family and is inspired by the red of the cochineal, one of the most precious dyes and one of the strongest and brightest known in the world. They called it “brave and fearless, pulsating, exuberant”, an unconventional tone for an unconventional time.

My curiosity about this colour made me dig into its history.

In Europe in the 19th century we saw this colour for the first time. Around the same period the colour became popular both in England and France. In France it was first known as “fuchsia” and in England “roseine”, but both names didn’t do justice to this elegant strong shade.

Eventually it became known as Magenta in honour of a small village just outside Milan, where on 4th July 1859, the French-Piemontese army won a very important battle against the Austrian troops. It seems that the French soldiers were wearing trousers in that very same shade.

I love the message that Pantone wants to share with the entire world: “A very bold and strong shade to promote joy, encouraging us to try new paths and welcoming everybody with a rebel accent.”

In honour of this majestic shade I’ve created 3 inspirational moodboards.

It’s amazing how many flowers for every season there are in Magenta.

In winter there are Christmas rose, wax flowers, windflower, ranunculus, tulips.

In spring amazing peonies. In summer limonium, dahlias, astrantia and hydrangea.

In autumn hydrangeas, chrysanthemum and cock’s comb.

All year around roses, carnations, calla lily and orchideae

What do you think about this colour? Do you like such a vivid vibrant shade? Let me know in the comments!