A case of the baby blues

For Commercial Interior Design, October 2024

From K-beauty brand LADOR’s latest flagship store in Seoul and the new Missoni pop-up cafe in Dubai Mall to the accents within Saudi’s just-opened Marni store and on the walls of Brand Creative’s Super Nova salon. Then, there’s the iconic 2022 Jacquemus pop-up in Selfridges, London. If you’ve noticed soft blue hues popping up in interiors lately, you’re not the only one.

But why now?

Each December, I eagerly await the Pantone Colour of the Year reveal. It’s not about the trends that may follow, or even the application of the colour. For me, it’s about the research and forecasting behind the colour selection and what it says about us, and the general state of society.

It sounds dramatic, I know. But when Peach Fuzz was named last year, Pantone said: “We wanted to turn to a colour that could focus on the importance of community and coming together with others. The colour we selected to be our Pantone Color of the Year 2024 needed to express our desire to want to be close to those we love and the joy we get when allowing ourselves to tune into who we are and just savour a moment of quiet time alone.  It needed to be a colour whose warm and welcoming embrace conveyed a message of compassion and empathy.” 

I’m certainly not coming for Pantone’s job or trying to make an early call, but the saturated presence of baby blue (call it sky blue, powder blue or even cornflower blue if you will) really had me thinking. These soft, serene hues have been building momentum over the last two years, and as they reach their peak, I’ve been contemplating the significance of the colour.

Baby blue has been around since the late 19th century, when it was first recorded in 1892, inspired by the wide-eyed innocence of a baby’s blue eyes. It was then, and still is today, a symbol of purity and new beginnings — a way to capture that sense of softness and freshness we associate with childhood and, more importantly, a sense of calm.

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