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;

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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;

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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).

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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;

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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

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