'Pink isn't just a color. It's a statement.' Pinkmas is Christmas revamped

Pink Christmas trees figure prominently at pop-up bar "A Pink Wonderland" in Chicago.
Pink Christmas trees figure prominently at pop-up bar "A Pink Wonderland" in Chicago.

White Christmas is out. Pink Christmas is in.

In the year of the blockbuster "Barbie" movie and dire warnings about climate change, it makes perfect sense Americans would give up on snow-frosted green trees and embrace a color not usually associated with the December holiday season: pink.

A 'Pinkmas' Christmas

Pink Christmas – or "Pinkmas" as fashion and entertainment trendsetters are calling it – has taken off, according to retailers. A trend that gained steam during the pandemic is going mainstream, embraced by celebrities, social media influencers and entrepreneurs. Pink Christmas trees are the emblem, but the trend extends to everything holiday-themed: ornaments, decorations, sweaters and socks, wreaths and wine glasses.

Paris Hilton, the model and pop culture icon, posed with not one but three artificial pink Christmas trees – salmon-colored fronds glowing with an otherworldly light – in an Instagram post last month announcing the birth of her daughter.

"Celebrating our baby girl London with a pink Christmas!" Hilton said in the post.

Other influencers on social media are promoting Pinkmas, too.

A pink sofa and pink Christmas tree.
A pink sofa and pink Christmas tree.

Lumy Perdomo of Lumy's Glam Home Decor began posting pink Christmas decor on her Instagram account in 2020 and has a pink-themed tree up this year, too, sharing the trend with her 208,000 followers. Jennifer Hayslip of Charleston, South Carolina's Eye Candy Creations posted her own pink tree on Instagram with the tagline, "Deck the halls with lots of Pinkmas!" for her nearly 30,000 followers.

"My flocked powder puff tree is making her first year grand debut," she wrote in the post. "She's delicate, feminine and fancy!"

Country Living magazine recently published a list of "20 Pink Christmas Trees for a Barbie-Approved Winter" with the tagline: "You know you want one."

The Barbie movie grossed over $1 billion and boosted sales of all things Barbie and Barbie-related, including the color pink. And that goes for sales of pink holiday decor, too.

Pinkmas: Christmas through rose-colored glasses

Buying Christmas decorations is high on shoppers' lists. The National Retail Federation, the shopping industry trade organization, doesn't have any specific data about "Pink Christmas" trends. But in its annual holiday shopping survey, the federation forecast consumers were budgeting $255 of the $875 they planned to spend on Christmas for buying seasonal items like decorations, candy or food.

Retailers are ready.

Target, Walmart, Wayfair and HomeGoods have selections of pink trees in shades ranging from carnation to bubblegum to "blush and bashful" – those delicate pinks made famous decades ago by Julia Roberts' character in the 1989 movie "Steel Magnolias."