Indie folk legend Bon Iver got together with Pantone to create a whole new shade ahead of the 2026 Color of the Year announcement. The color, named fABLE Salmon by the official color decider, comes from the cover art of the band’s latest album: SABLE, fABLE.
Artists are intrigued, and Bon Iver fans are impressed at the band’s ability to influence culture.
fABLE Salmon takes the stage
Pantone announced the partnership and the new color Friday as the “story of a musical makeover.”
“The two colors on the cover of Bon Iver’s latest album SABLE, fABLE—stark black and Pantone 1625 C—tell a simple story that, like all the best ones, was complex in its conception,” writes Andy Battaglia for the color-naming company.
“The second color has come to be known in the Bon Iver universe as ‘salmon.’ Invocation of the fish is intentional, but so are associations with other things like sunsets and the underside of skin.”
Salmon has been Bon Iver frontman Justin Vernon’s favorite color since he was a kid. Apparently, this was how he imagined the sunset sky in Los Angeles as he dreamed of stardom while growing up in the Midwest. The life cycle of the fish further inspired his affection for the tone.
“It’s the life of a salmon: to spawn upriver just to die, for love,” said Vernon. “The sad-b*stard in me loved that.”
The new shade of salmon will presumably be a contender for the 2026 Color of the Year. Pantone will announce the winner on Dec. 14 and is encouraging people to predict which color family the winner will come from. So far, green is the clear frontrunner at 31 percent, with the pink family trailing at seven percent.
This could change after the Bon Iver partnership reveal, however.
“Love that he made a whole color canon”
The announcement drew the attention of artists and other color enjoyers on X. Opinions on fABLE Salmon are mixed, but seem to lean positive, although the enthusiasm of Bon Iver fans may be biasing the results.
“That’s such a cool collab love how the Fable Salmon color pops just like on the album art!” said @PromptSin.
“It’s so cool to see music and design come together—fABLE Salmon perfectly captures the vibe of the album,” wrote @SudamaSb. “Bon Iver always thinking aesthetically!”
Even those who don’t have much to say about colors loved that the band is changing the world, albeit in a minor fashion.
“Bon Iver really said, ‘New album, new vibe, new color deal with it,’” said @pebbles_hl.
“Love that he made a whole color canon,” gushed @heyheyfranciele.
The hex code for the shade of pink is #ffa58a, for those curious.
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