bright fuchsia
From a saccharine symbol of girlhood to the most powerful colour of 2022, Stylist investigates the rebirth of pink
words: Meena Alexander
In her bestselling book , Roxane Gay wrote: “I am a bad feminist because… I am a woman who loves pink.” It was half-joking, but it summed up the attitude towards the hyperfeminine colour back in 2014: pink felt frivolous and infantilising, a cutesy cliche. Then a shift began to take place. In 2016, Pantone chose Rose Quartz as one of its colours of the year. A few months later, writer Véronique Hyland coined ‘millennial pink’, giving name to the dusky hue that was consuming our Instagram feeds, so prolific in the wardrobes and homes of 20 and 30-somethings that it became the new neutral. This was the muted pink of Glossier and The Wing, rebranded as cool for a generation who’d largely shunned it since girlhood. By the end of the 2010s, though, muted was no longer cutting it. Jodie Comer exploded onto our screens as Villanelle in donning a candyfloss cloud by Molly Goddard. Beyoncé played a history-making set at Coachella, dancing furiously in that custom magenta Balmain hoodie. Our eyes were glued to Michaela Coel and her bubblegum wig in . The pink
