Pantone has unveiled its 2025 color of the year, continuing its annual tradition of forecasting the hue set to influence design trends globally. The selection for the coming year is “Mocha Mousse,” also known as PANTONE 17-1230—a soft, creamy brown that reflects a return to nature, according to the brand. Typically, the company selects a shade that it believes will reflect the cultural zeitgeist in the year ahead. The 2024 color of the year was “Peach Fuzz,” a peachy orange tone.
“Mocha Mousse” is described by Pantone as “an evocative soft brown that transports our senses into the pleasure and deliciousness it inspires.” Furthermore, the company stated in its press release, the shade “nurtures with its suggestion of the delectable quality of cacao, chocolate, and coffee, appealing to our desire for comfort.”
Pantone’s color of the year program, now in its 26th year, began with 1999’s “Cerulean Blue,” a calming sky blue. Since then, the selection has become a bellwether for emerging trends in industries from fashion and interiors to technology and art. Other recent colors of the year have included “Viva Magenta” (2023), a vibrant red-purple, and “Very Peri” (2022), a dark periwinkle blue.
Pantone, whose color system is used extensively by designers across the world, is seen as an authority on defining and naming shades. The company will collaborate with brands such as Motorola and Joybird to create “Mocha Mousse” products such as cell phones and furniture. Tonight, Pantone announced, the London Eye will also light up the London skyline in a “Mocha Mousse” shade to celebrate the color’s unveiling.
In a press statement, Leatrice Eiseman, executive director of the Pantone Color Institute, noted the high-end but peaceful qualities of the color: “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…A flavourful brown shade, [the color] envelopes us with its sensorial warmth.”
