Believe it or not, these surprisingly similar colors* were not planned by their respective manufacturers. (Indeed, these companies are all competitors, so having such similar announcements makes it hard to leverage the individual colors in their marketing.) Color trends are carefully curated by researching trends in the fashion, automotive, retail, and hospitality industries, among others. So what the trend does point to is something the manufacturers all agree on: consumer trends are calling for natural tones.
This is quite a departure from the last several years of Color of the Year announcements that showcased a number of bolder colors and jewel tones. The collection of gray-green hues for 2022 strike a much different tone (pun intended!) even compared to last year’s Colors of the Year, which included a bold blue-green, a rich bronze, and an unexpected chartreuse color.