Alyx, I hear that Pantone has announced the colour of 2025. What is it?
Every year colour company Pantone declares one shade to rule them all. Sometimes it’s a disastrous misfire: this year they picked “peach fuzz”, then slime green – which is several steps removed on the colour wheel – dominated the discourse. Sometimes they’re right on the money, like when they picked “Big Tech blue” just before the Covid-19 pandemic forced us all to live through screens.
For next year’s new hue, they’ve tipped mocha mousse.
Laurie Pressman, VP of the Pantone Color Institute, the company’s in-house trend forecasting agency, says it is: “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.”
That’s a lot of comfort.
OK, this is literally the colour of my doona cover, it now makes sense that I’m drawn to a shade that claims to be comfortable. But is Mocha Mousse just a fancy word for brown?
Personally I think it’s a darker shade of beige, but basically yes. It’s brown with a solid glug of cream mixed through it, hence the references to “rich” and “luxurious”. But the lactose intolerant among us may have different associations.
An aspirational twist on the great enshittification. So, tell me, does this mean everything I buy now should be in mellow brown hues?
If an all-neutral palette speaks to you – which between quiet luxury and clean girls is the case for many people – then sure, go big on brown. I think the colour, like the dessert, tends to work best in moderation. A pair of mocha mousse palazzo pants paired with a pale top and bright orange accessories could be fun, for instance. Or you could try a plain white shirt with varying shades of brown and beige. Kitty Flanagan makes a compelling case for brown-on-brown in Fisk too.
Or you could just wear whatever you want. Wear that doona as a coat! It’s very Schiaparelli, very Max Mara.
Before I dive too deep, how does Pantone decide the colour of the year?
Trend forecasting used to be about assembling a lot of reference shots into mood boards, then just sort of guessing. This means it can be an imprecise art – see peach fuzz, above. That being said, there are increasingly sophisticated algorithms, and even artificial intelligence, involved in the business of prediction, which often ends up recursively feeding us what is already out there.
Mocha mousse seems quite obvious to me. It is very in line with what has already been happening in fashion and interior trends over the past several years, so there were probably a fair few data points involved in making this choice. Personally, I kind of liked it better when people just worked off vibes.
I agree, vibes are better. What mocha mousse item do you have your eye on?
In my dreams it’d be every outfit Faye Dunaway wears in The Network. But on my budget, I’ll probably make do with a chocolate Paddle Pop.
