From bubblegum Barbie to Tumblr-approved pastel, the color pink has gone through a transformation over the last two decades. And it isn't going away anytime soon.

&ldquo;On Wednesdays we wear pink,&rdquo; Karen instructs Cady in the infamous scene from Tina Fey&#39;s 2004 movie <a href="https://www.lofficielsingapore.com/living/lindsay-lohan-interview-the-mean-girls-actress-on-turning-30-in-2017" target="_blank">Mean Girls</a>. The color in question wasn&#39;t just any pink, but&nbsp;a particular type of pink that dominated the <a href="https://www.lofficielusa.com/fashion/y2k-fashion-inspiration-2021-instagram-celebrity-style" target="_blank">2000s</a>.&nbsp;

From <a href="https://www.lofficielusa.com/fashion/paris-hilton-favorite-y2k-accessories-hot" target="_blank">Paris Hilton</a> and <a href="https://www.lofficielusa.com/film-tv/netflix-announces-own-britney-spears-documentary-instagram-toxic-conservatorship" target="_blank">Britney Spears</a> to&nbsp;Regina George and Elle Woods (who declared, &quot;Whoever said orange was the new pink was seriously disturbed.&rdquo;), the Y2K era was all about bright, bold, bubblegum colors, anything that could work&nbsp;on a <a href="https://www.lofficielusa.com/fashion/claudia-schiffer-supermodel-designer-barbie-doll" target="_blank">Barbie</a> or Bratz Doll.&nbsp;

Paris-Hilton-y2k-pink.jpg

britney-spears-y2k-pink.jpg

elle-woods-legally-blonde-y2k-pink.jpg

Mean-Girls-2000s-pink-y2k.jpg

Pantone, fashion&#39;s chief color measurement system that often predicts the trending colors for the years to come, set the tone for the 2000s by naming <a href="https://www.pantone.com/color-finder/17-2031-TPX" target="_blank">fucshia rose</a> its &quot;Color of the Year&quot; in 2001.

But Pantone did more than just capture the Y2K trend. The early aughts&nbsp;<a href="https://www.lofficielusa.com/fashion/claudia-schiffer-supermodel-designer-barbie-doll" target="_blank">Barbie</a>&nbsp;tone of pink was rooted in femininity, something we can see in the 2000s movies and pop culture icons who set the trend. For Pantone, fucshia rose was all about&nbsp;appealing to <a href="https://www.housebeautiful.com/uk/decorate/g25463774/pantone-colour-of-the-year/?slide=2" target="_blank">everyone&#39;s feminine side</a>.&nbsp;Being a &quot;girly-girl&quot; wasn&#39;t something to be ashamed of, but something to celebrate.&nbsp;

Pantone-2001-fuschia-rose.jpg

Y2k-fashion.jpg

As the years went on and fashion took a turn towards more subtle styles, so did Y2K pink, as it transformed from bubblegum to a softer combination of beige, peachy blush, and salmon tones.

Millennial&nbsp;pink, also known as &quot;Tumblr pink&quot; as it became a <a href="https://www.lofficielusa.com/beauty/beauty-trends-2010s-makeup-hair" target="_blank">Tumblr</a>-approved&nbsp;pastel on the defining social platform of the early&nbsp;2010s, became a favorite color among celebrities and high fashion brands,&nbsp;showing up on the runways of <a href="https://www.lofficielusa.com/fashion/gucci-new-collection-psychedelic-capsule-70s" target="_blank">Gucci</a>, <a href="https://www.lofficielusa.com/fashion/phoebe-philo-celine-chloe-designer-return" target="_blank">C&eacute;line</a>, <a href="https://www.lofficielusa.com/fashion/cristobal-balenciaga-signature-looks-sack-dress-egg-coat" target="_blank">Balenciaga</a>, and more.

Hailey-Baldwin-Millenial-Pink-gucci-shoes.jpg

Millenial-Pink-helmut-lang-2017.jpg

Millennial-pink-runway.jpg

As we saw in the pink trend of the 2000s, what happens on-screen can often shape a trend off-screen. <a href="https://www.lofficielusa.com/fashion/lyna-khoudri-the-french-dispatch-wes-anderson" target="_blank">Wes Anderson</a>&#39;s 2014 film <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1Fg5iWmQjwk" target="_blank">The Grand&nbsp;Budapest Hotel&nbsp;</a>can be viewed&nbsp;as one place&nbsp;where this shift to millennial pink in pop culture began. The acclaimed filmmaker, known for his distinct use of <a href="https://www.studiobinder.com/blog/wes-anderson-color-palette/" target="_blank">color palettes</a>, made everything in the film a shade of this toned down pink hue, focused entirely around the hotel building, which was in itself shades of this millennial-friendly color.

&nbsp;

Wes-Anderson-Grand-Budapest-Hotel-film.jpg

The color took off from there. Apple released the &quot;rose gold&quot; iPhone in 2015, a variation of millennial pink. Major millenial-facing beauty and fashion names&nbsp;like <a href="https://www.lofficielusa.com/beauty/glossier-play-2019" target="_blank">Glossier</a> and <a href="https://www.lofficielusa.com/fashion-week/pfw-acne-studios-men-39-s-ss20" target="_blank">Acne Studios</a> based their branding on the color. Music artists like <a href="https://www.lofficielusa.com/fashion/drake-fashion-instagram-nike-certified-lover-boy" target="_blank">Drake</a>&nbsp;and <a href="https://www.lofficielusa.com/fashion/pearl-jewelry-trend-kamala-harris-harry-styles" target="_blank">Harry Styles</a>&nbsp;also incorporated the hue on their album artwork.

Drake-hotline-bling.png

Acne-Studios-pink-sweater.jpg

Glossier-LA-store.jpg

harry-styles-album-millennial-pink.jpg

Like the Y2K trend, we can look back to fashion&#39;s favorite color measurer, Pantone to define the trend. Pantone announced Rose Quartz was one of two joint colors for the <a href="https://www.pantone.com/articles/color-of-the-year/color-of-the-year-2016#:~:text=A%20softer%20take%20on%20color,PANTONE%20Color%20of%20the%20Year." target="_blank">2016 Color of the Year</a>&nbsp;(the other was Serenity blue).

Pantone-Rose-Quartz.jpg

But millennial pink&nbsp;symbolizes something more than just a pretty color. If Y2K was all about embracing a &quot;girly-girl&quot; femininity, then millennial pink was about getting rid of the gender boundaries, symbolizing a shift in society and fashion. Pantone&#39;s choice of rose quartz for Color of the Year&nbsp;was meant to challenge &quot;traditional perceptions of color association.&quot;&nbsp;

&quot;We&nbsp;are experiencing a gender blur as it relates to fashion,&quot; Pantone said in a <a href="https://www.pantone.com/articles/color-of-the-year/color-of-the-year-2016#:~:text=A%20softer%20take%20on%20color,PANTONE%20Color%20of%20the%20Year." target="_blank">statement</a>, &quot;This more unilateral approach to color is coinciding with societal movements toward <a href="https://www.lofficielusa.com/fashion/harry-styles-gender-fluid-fashion-stylist" target="_blank">gender equality and fluidity</a>, the consumer&#39;s increased comfort with using color as a form of expression, a generation that has less concern about being typecast or judged and an open exchange of digital information that has opened our eyes to different approaches to color usage.&quot;

This societal and fashion shift is represented by the switch&nbsp;in the dominating shade of pink, from Y2K&#39;s hot pink to the softer, millennial style. Graphic designer Kevin Lo explained this in his essay &quot;<a href="https://www.lokidesign.net/en/texts/the-propaganda-of-pantone-colour-and-subcultural-sublimation" target="_blank">The Propaganda of Pantone: Colour and Subcultural Simulation</a>,&quot; writing, &quot;a&nbsp;muted pink speaks to our altering society&#39;s understanding of femininity (i.e., traditional hot pinks and baby pinks that we often see used in feminine hygiene products or &#39;girls&#39; toys&#39;).&quot;&nbsp;

&nbsp;

Dior-SpringSummer-2020-pink-fashion-runway.png

Marc-Jacobs-pink.jpg

Harry-Styles-The-Today-Show-Fashion-TV-Style-Tom-Lorenzo-Site-1.jpg

But what we&#39;re seeing&nbsp;now is a <a href="http://www.lofficielusa.com/fashion/gen-z-y2k-millennial-90s-fashion-nostalgia" target="_blank">return to Y2K fashions</a>, including the bold pink color&mdash;this time, with a modern&nbsp;perspective. As we move into an age where antiquated, societal&nbsp;rules of gender&nbsp;are being put into question, with a surge of&nbsp;<a href="https://www.lofficielusa.com/shopping/gender-neutral-accessories-shopping-survey-dior-bottega-veneta-celine" target="_blank">gender-neutral clothing&nbsp;lines</a> and <a href="https://www.lofficielusa.com/fashion/harry-styles-gender-fluid-fashion-stylist" target="_blank">a lack of&nbsp;gender stereotypes</a> in mainstream fashion, the deeper meaning behind millennial pink can be applied to the Y2K trends we&#39;re seeing on TikTok and high fashion runways.&nbsp;The shift from the distinctly feminine,&nbsp;&quot;girly&quot; pink of the 2000s to the &quot;muted&quot; millennial pink allowed us to remove&nbsp;the previously established gender binaries. This paved&nbsp;the path for the eventual return of the brighter&nbsp;Y2K color, now no longer chained to the&nbsp;&quot;girls versus boys&quot; mindset. As we see from superstars to big brand names, this bold pink hue&nbsp;can (and should) be for everyone.&nbsp;

What the Shift from Y2K to Millennial Pink (and Back Again) Means

Tags

Related Articles

Fashion

Why is Gen Z So Obsessed with Y2K Fashion?

Fashion

Y2K Fashion to Inspire Your 2021 Wardrobe

Fashion

From Kamala Harris to Harry Styles, Everyone is Obsessed With This Pearl Jewelry Trend

Recommended posts for you

Fashion

These Timeless Luxury Accessories Were Made to Cherish for a Lifetime

Beauty

The Evolution of Rocker Hair

Fashion

Louis Vuitton Re-Opens in NYC With Five-Floor Extravaganza

Music

Tate McRae Announces 2025 Tour, Drops New Single

Fashion

Dior's Lady Art Project Returns With Stunning Artist-Made Bags

Pop culture

20 Rare Photos of Young King Charles III: A Look at His Earlier Life

Fashion

Skims Teams Up With Dolce & Gabbana for a Luxurious Collaboration

Fashion

Meet Tanya Taylor's Alter Ego: Delphine, a Muse for NYC Night Owls