Who determines the color of the year? These days, who doesn’t?

For years, Pantone, a company based in Carlstadt, N.J., has reigned as the de facto color authority. The company chooses a color of the year, based on design trends it sees in various industries. Pantone has pronounced a color of the year since 1999. Its choice often bleeds into fashion and design, and brands produce and sell goods in that color.

On Wednesday, Pantone announced its 2022 color, Very Peri, what it describes as a “futuristic” periwinkle blue with “violet-red undertones.”