Pantone picks “Tangerine Tango” as 2012’s Color of the Year

Every year, Pantone picks a new color as a PR stunt to have us all talk about Pantone and colors for a week or two. Every year, it totally works. It’s a gimmick with staying power! Most years, the color selections seem a bit…off, at least by fashion standards. The last two have been a dark teal and a disappointingly middling shade of pink, neither of which had anything to do with the neon-a-gogo mood of the style industry in 2010 and 2011. For 2012, Pantone managed to get it right – the bright, saturated, orange-y reds that we’ve seen all over the runways for the past two seasons (and that were especially popular for Resort and Spring 2012) is 2012’s Color of the Year.

It’s technically called Tangerine Tango, but I see a lot more red than orange when I look at Pantone’s official swatch. Almost all of my friends have lamented this shade as a difficult one to wear, but that’s where being a handbag person comes in handy – you can wear it all you want, and since the color doesn’t sit near your face, it doesn’t matter if it’s flattering to your skin tone. Naturally, we have six handbag options in red-orange so that you can get a jump on 2012.

Bottega Veneta Maxi Veneta Hobo, priced $2700 via Neiman Marcus