Pantone Color of the Year 2021: By The Numbers

The Pantone Color of the Year 2021 is more than a color, it is the brand’s color snapshot of what we see happening in a global culture that serves as an expression of a mood and an attitude.” Classic Blue was the Color of the Year in 2020, representing the calm and dependability needed to balance feelings of unrest and insecurity. Now, there’s not one, but two colors that are indicative of 2021’s more optimistic tone.

Pantone has selected Ultimate Gray and Illuminating as the 2021 Colors of the Year. The first is an unfaltering grey; the second, a vibrant yellow. The combination of these two expresses a message of positivity and fortitude. While they project resilience and warmth as a pair, individually, they’ve made waves in the sneaker industry as some of the biggest releases have donned one of the two colors. We turned to our data and uncovered which brands are showing the highest resale performance for gray and yellow sneakers. Here is what we found.

Gray Sneakers

Just like all-white and all-black colorways, gray sneakers are a staple piece. They are neutral and able to adapt to any setting. So much so that many brands have adopted the hue as an identity for their product lines. New Balance has made the color gray synonymous with its 99X series, its focal point of lifestyle footwear. Nike has integrated the hue into most of their Air Max releases. Even Yeezy has consistently used variations of gray in their recent models, like the QNTM and 380. But unsurprisingly, Jordan Brand takes the crown for the most valuable gray sneakers, and it isn’t even close.

The chart above shows the average resale premium for grey sneakers by brand. All average premiums account for sales made in the last 12 months, and each release had to have “gray” in its name to be included in the data set. After taking the composite average for each brand, we found that Jordan Brand held the strongest price premiums for grey sneakers at 61%. What has set Jordan so far ahead of the rest is its frequent use of the Cool Grey colorway in Retro silhouettes and the Jordan 1. 

The Cool Grey colorway is one of the most renowned hues in Jumpman’s catalog. Mostly known for its prominence on the Jordan 11 Retro Cool Grey, it has appeared on other popular Jordan models like the Jordan 4, Jordan 9, and most recently, the Jordan 3. On average, Cool Grey Jordan Retros resell at a 73% premium – 12% higher than Jordan’s total average. In addition to high resale premiums of the Cool Grey releases, Jordan accounted for seven out of the top ten most-sold gray sneakers in the past 12 months, all seven coming in the form of a Jordan 1. This is not only a testament to the popularity of the Jordan 1 but also the power of gray when paired with a classic silhouette.

Yellow Sneakers

Gray shows stability, but yellow makes a statement. Yellow sneakers aren’t for the faint of heart. If you choose to rock a yellow colorway you create a focal point in your fit, a crown jewel of your drip. Yellow sneakers from over 31 brands sold on StockX in the past year, but only one held the highest premiums.

Similar to the previous infographic, the chart above displays the average price premiums for yellow sneakers by brand, using the same selection method and date range. Despite Nike’s low premiums in grey sneakers, the exact opposite was true for yellow. Nike had the highest premiums for yellow sneakers by far, at a whopping 126%. In other words, the average yellow Nike sneaker is likely to trade for well over double its retail price. Other brands didn’t even come close. The next highest premium was held by Jordan Brand, who claimed a 38% premium with its yellow sneakers – less than one-third of Nike’s average.

Looking back at 2020, it makes sense that Nike has dominated the yellow sneakers category. The Nike SB Dunk Low Grateful Dead Bears Yellow and Nike Vaporwaffle sacai Tour Yellow Stadium Green ranked in the top five for most expensive and most sold yellow sneakers in the past year. Nike’s inclusion of yellow in its most hyped sneakers has led to a massive average premium for the brand. 

It will be interesting to see if Nike incorporates yellow into its biggest upcoming 2021 releases and the extent to which Jordan and other brands will choose to utilize gray. When Pantone releases its yearly color picks, it’s not just reflective of today’s trends, but also predictive of tomorrow’s fashion landscape. We’ll be watching closely to see how these two colors shape the sneaker styles of tomorrow.