The wait is officially over: Pantone’s 2025 Color of the Year is Mocha Mousse, a chocolatey, decadent-yet-cozy brown. Expanding on the legacy of 2024 pick, Peach Fuzz, and its emphasis on tactility, Mocha Mousse serves up a multisensory feast for all five senses.
“It’s a beautiful color to look at. We think of tasting it, and know it’s going to be wonderful on the tongue. We think of the smell of chocolate in the oven,” Pantone Color Institute executive director Leatrice Eiseman says of this sweetly named shade. “Underpinned by our desire for everyday pleasures, Mocha Mousse expresses a level of thoughtful indulgence.”
Indeed, Mocha Mousse (a.k.a. Pantone 17-1230) reminds us of brown’s potential to feel glamorous instead of grounded. The quiet luxury element is there: The color makes a subtly impactful statement on a wall, especially when used to contrast bright whites. It adds a dash of esteemed intrigue to any marbleized texture that forces one to truly stop and look. Between those sorts of subtly smart applications and the color’s frequent appearance on runways and red carpets, one can see why Eiseman describes Mocha Mousse as “sophisticated and lush, yet at the same time, an unpretentious classic.”
The cozy shade also promises to play well across interior material palettes of wool upholstery, leather, and suede. If a bold—but not brash—statement is your aim, using Mocha Mousse as an amuse-bouche accent wall adds a pop of sophisticated vibrancy while creating bite-sized moments of joy.
But even the most otherworldly browns can’t truly lose their association with the earth. Mocha Mousse extends the concept of harmony to our relationship with the natural world. When featured alongside lighter wood tones, Pantone Color Institute vice president Laurie Pressman notes that Mocha Mousse can “honor the substance of our physical environment” without making you feel lost in a forest. Given the hue’s sophisticated slant, Pressman says it can articulate rustic charm without coming across as too folksy.
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The Color Palettes of 2025, According to Pantone
Coinciding with the color reveal, Pantone has unveiled five Color of the Year 2025 Palettes. Each pairs Mocha Mousse with seven other colors, articulating moods and aesthetics range in character from subtle to striking.
