Mocha Mousse: Pantone’s Colour of 2025 is A Sombre Reflection of Today’s Times
The announcement of Pantone’s Mocha Mousse as the Colour of the Year for 2025 is more than just a passing trend — it is a reflection of the world we live in. This warm, earthy brown signals a cultural pivot away from ostentation and excess — embracing quiet luxury, sustainability and a more considered approach to consumption. In an era where economic slowdowns and social consciousness impact spending, luxury brands are recalibrating their messaging. Browns — with their inherent association with longevity and grounding — align with this shift.
Who Decides The “Colour of the Year”?
The Pantone Colour of the Year program engages the design community and colour enthusiasts in a conversation around colour, highlighting the relationship between colour and culture. Pantone selects a colour each year that captures the global zeitgeist — the “Colour of the Year” expresses a global mood and an attitude, reflecting collective desire in the form of a single, distinct hue. For 2025, the Pantone Color Institute selects PANTONE 17-1230 Mocha Mousse — a warming, brown hue imbued with richness.
“It nurtures us with its suggestion of the delectable qualities of chocolate and coffee, answering our desire for comfort. Underpinned by our desire for every day pleasures, PANTONE 17-1230 Mocha Mousse expresses a level of thoughtful indulgence. Sophisticated and lush, yet at the same time an unpretentious classic, PANTONE 17-1230 Mocha Mousse extends our perceptions of the browns from being humble and grounded to embrace aspirational and luxe,” states executive director of Pantone’s Colour Institute, Leatrice Eiseman.
Colour as a Cultural Barometer
Pantone describes Mocha Mousse as capturing a global mood of “connection, comfort, and harmony,” but it also signals a cognitive shift — a move towards visual clarity and cognitive efficiency. In an overstimulated digital age, where information overload is the norm, the appeal of a grounding, neutral shade makes sense. Unlike vibrant hues that allow for bold contrasts and movement, its monochromatic nature risks stagnation. Shades of brown — while sophisticated — require intentional styling to avoid blending into the background, a challenge for designers seeking to maintain visual interest.
Previous years have seen the Colour of the Year trend towards vibrant hues. For instance, 2024’s Peach Fuzz captured what Pantone described as “our desire to nurture ourselves and others”, offering a velvety, gentle peach tone depicted as being “the all-embracing spirit enriched mind, body, and soul.” In 2023, Magenta — or “Viva Magenta” — was described as brave, fearless and pulsating, promoting a joyous and optimistic celebration of life. While nowhere near the exact shade of pink, it was perhaps not a total coincidence that a standout from fashion week Fall/Winter 2022 was Valentino’s Hot Pink, reportedly designed to encourage a “moment of reflection”.
In 2022, Pantone introduced PANTONE 17-3938 Very Peri, a colour described as a “courageous presence encouraged personal inventiveness and creativity, symbolising new beginnings” in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic. The Colour of the Year for 2021 — PANTONE 17-5104 Ultimate Gray and PANTONE 13-0647 Illuminating — conveyed a message of strength and hopefulness, reflecting the resilience required during challenging times. Similarly, in 2020, PANTONE 19-4052 Classic Blue instilled calm, confidence and connection, reflecting the need for stability as we crossed into a new decade and a new era. It is interesting to note how many of the previous year’s colours carry a similar sentiment of optimism, strength and calm, with 2020’s Classic Blue being one of the most recent to reference 2025’s colour of the year — with stability in the face of uncertainty, a theme that did not seem to echo in the joy of the following years.
Looking back, the common thread running through these selections is the pursuit of the aforementioned qualities of optimism, strength and calm — qualities that reappear in 2025’s Mocha Mousse. Its return to earthiness echoes 2020’s Classic Blue, another shade that suggested stability in uncertain times. However, where Classic Blue reflected a forward-facing confidence, Mocha Mousse seems more introspective — perhaps a sign that after years of post-pandemic optimism, there is a renewed desire for restraint and quiet luxury.
Fashion as a Historical Oracle: Monochrome, Mocha, Minimalism
Fashion has always been a mirror of its time, and the prominence of brown hues in recent collections speaks to a broader movement — one of restraint, stability and a rejection of overt displays of wealth. In a world of economic uncertainty and shifting values, Mocha Mousse offers a sense of grounding. Its presence on the runways of luxury houses underlines this shift. Throughout history, fashion has served as a visual record of economic and social currents, translating global sentiment into fabric, silhouette and colour. The prominence of brown hues in recent collections underscores this role, reflecting a larger movement toward restraint, stability and a rejection of overt displays of wealth. “What I find interesting is that the Color of the Year tends to crystallise palette trends or desires I think we all ‘feel’ instinctively and these kinds of trends can speak to something much broader socio-political, socio-economic, socio-personal stories that crop up globally,” says Zena Khan independent curator and researcher who is specialising in Malaysian contemporary art.
Brown’s resurgence is not without historical precedent. In fashion, the 1970s saw a similar embrace of earthy, muted tones, particularly within the bohemian aesthetic championed by designers such as Yves Saint Laurent and Ossie Clark. Shades of brown — ranging from deep chocolate to soft caramel — reflected a cultural shift towards naturalism, freedom and a rejection of the hyper-glamorous, rigid A-line silhouettes of the 1960s “Mod” era.
Archive Ossie Clark (left), Vintage Yves Saint Laurent (right) both circa the 1970s.
Today, against a backdrop of inflation, geopolitical tensions and changing luxury ideals, Mocha Mousse resonates in much the same way. The “quiet luxury” aesthetic — characterised by understated elegance and heritage craftsmanship — aligns with this mood. Labels such as Bottega Veneta, Loro Piana and The Row have leaned into brown’s organic sophistication, reinforcing the idea that true luxury is no longer about logos but longevity.
Bottega Veneta (left) Loro Piana (Centre) and The Row (right)
The Business Behind Pantone’s Choice
It is also important to acknowledge that Pantone is a commercial organisation, which means it functions as a business. When they unveil the “Colour of the Year,” it is not just about aesthetics — it is strategically tied to various industries, with partnerships and links to home appliances, rugs, wallpaper and other interior decor products that help drive consumer interest and sales.
Pantone’s Colour of the Year is not selected in a vacuum. It is a strategic move influenced by shifts in consumer behaviour, market trends and even political undercurrents. Mocha Mousse embodies warmth and connection, aligning with themes of sustainability, mindful consumption and a more timeless approach to design. By selecting Mocha Mousse, Pantone is subtly shaping industry trends, pushing a narrative that aligns with the collective desire for stability and balance. But as with any trend, the cycle continues. The predictability of brown may eventually give way to something bolder, marking the next inevitable evolution in colour psychology and cultural sentiment.
Yet, for all its cultural relevance, Mocha Mousse is ultimately restrictive. Unlike the electric optimism of Viva Magenta or the softness of Peach Fuzz, brown lacks the dynamic range that allows for movement and contrast. From a colour theory perspective, browns absorb rather than reflect light, creating a flatter visual effect. In fashion, this means that unless paired with texture, tailoring or strategic layering, brown can risk looking stagnant or monotonous. Unlike jewel tones or pastels — which can be manipulated to create depth and drama — brown’s muted nature makes it harder to stand out.
Herein lies its biggest limitation — while it feels relevant now, its longevity is questionable. The cycle of colour trends is dictated by the same forces that drive consumer behaviour — what feels fresh today will feel overused tomorrow. By the time Mocha Mousse has filtered through fashion, interiors and branding, the appetite for something more vivid and more expressive, will inevitably return.
Mocha Mousse represents more than just a seasonal colour — it signals the industry’s ongoing recalibration. Fashion — like history — moves in cycles and brown’s resurgence suggests that the extravagance of the early 2020s is giving way to a more contemplative era. Yet, as always, the pendulum will swing again. Today’s preference for muted minimalism may eventually give rise to something bold and expressive, mirroring the vibrant excesses that followed past economic downturns.
For now, though, Mocha Mousse reigns, offering a moment of pause in an otherwise chaotic world.
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