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The Pantone Colour of the Year 2025 has officially been revealed as Mocha Mousse.
The soft, warm brown, was whipped into our consciousness as it graced collections across various runways this past year, marking its selection as a welcome, and fairly familiar one.
Elements of the delicious colourway were seen across Spring/Summer 2025 runways, and even in the Autumn/Winter collections of the season prior, evident in both tone and materiality.
Connotations of texture – a whipped airiness, or subtle silkiness – lends itself various fabrications embraced by designers as part of their 2025 collections. Think slinky silk satins, butter soft leathers, cashmere and even the season’s breakout sartorial star – suede. All of which featured equally alongside the more lightweight and floaty chiffons, jersey and draped interpretations.
From rich caramel and deep toffee, to diaphanous fawn shades, the presence of brown – in all its varied shades – was certainly a common thread for the fashion houses this year, with the likes of Max Mara, Hermès, Miu Miu, Fendi, Chanel and Chloé, each showing a wave of mocha-inspired looks.
It’s no wonder then, that the delectable hue, as plain as it may be, was selected to represent the “collective desire” of the new year.
What Is Pantone Colour Of The Year?
Each year Pantone selects a colour that reflects the mood of the moment, or wider global zeitgeist, and while it may feel world’s away from what was undoubtedly the unofficial colour of 2024 – Brat green – it’s also an expression of intent for the year to come.
The Pantone Colour of the Year program works with the design community and colour enthusiasts to spark conversations about colour as interpreted by culture.
Each year, it selects a colour it feels to be representative of the cultural moment, inviting designers across all industries to develop, embrace and be inspired by, the chosen hue.
Brands like Post-It and Motorola, have already released their own interpretations, signalling a shift into the new-neutral we can expect to see more of across the next 12-months.
Previous Pantone Colour of the Year selections – like 2024’s Peach Fuzz or 2023’s Viva Magenta, and even the Grimace-shade of Veri Peri, have divided the internet with many wondering how the polarising colours were reflective of the zeitgeist at the time.
However, for the first time in a few years, Mocha Mousse feels grounded in relevance, expressing an attitude of sensorial depth and subtle elegance, and dare we say… a nod to quiet luxury when the trend appeared to be waning.
What Is Mocha Mousse?
Mocha Mousse, or Pantone 17-1230 as identified on the Pantone Colour Institute colour system, is a soft, warm brown that evokes a sophisticated and earthy elegance.
The hue, according to Pantone, “empowers you to create moments of luxury that may be intimate in scale but can extend a sense of indulgence throughout the day.”
This year, the focus was more aligned with harmony and a return to nature, than the more energising, or stimulating, directions of the past.
“For Pantone Colour of the Year 2025, we look to a mellow brown hue whose inherent richness and sensorial and comforting warmth extends further into our desire for comfort, and the indulgence of simple pleasures that we can gift and share with others,” said Laurie Pressman, Vice President of the Pantone Color Institute.
Reddish-brown with light chocolate undertones, the aptly named hue was selected for a reason.
“The name of the colour is always quite important to the feeling that we want to convey,” said Pressman. “If you notice it’s mousse, there’s a lightness to it. And we’ve seen this shift over the past years into more vaporised or light-feeling colours.”
“Mocha Mousse is the perfect hue for “me moments”—however you define them. Redolent with the essence of cacao, chocolate and coffee, this sophisticated brown offers an everyday escape, a well-deserved treat.”
Unlike the vivid, somewhat intense colours we’ve seen in previous iterations, Mocha Mousse really does feel like somewhat of a course correction. A path towards a more cup-filling cosiness, or mindful consumption that might prove to be a much-needed balm for a world in need of soothing.
