The Pantone Color Institute has named PANTONE 17-1230 Mocha Mousse as its 2025 Color of the Year, according to a Thursday announcement.
The light brown shade is a mix of warm, rich chocolate, coffee and cacao tones and is designed to evoke subtle elegance and sensorial richness, according to the release. It’s the first time Pantone has highlighted a brown shade for its annual distinction.
“Underpinned by our desire for every day pleasures, Pantone 17-1230 Mocha Mousse expresses a level of thoughtful indulgence,” Leatrice Eiseman, executive director of the Pantone Color Institute, said in the release. “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.”
Eiseman added that the hue was infused with “subtle elegance and earthy refinement” and presented a “discrete and tasteful touch of glamour.”
The color also connected to “a growing movement to align ourselves more closely with the natural world,” Pantone said in the release.
The annual Color of the Year announcement isn't designed to promote a particular shade, but is rather intended to help “companies and consumers better understand the power color can have,” Laurie Pressman, Pantone’s vice president, said in a 2023 interview on the company’s website.
Pressman said in that interview that the colors selected each year tend to increase in popularity, and can sometimes “become even more influential the following year” as they’re “integrated into the cultural mindset.” In addition, Pressman added that “color is a major part of a consumer’s decision to buy something or not.”
On its website, Pantone is already featuring several brands that have already released products in the newly announced shade, including a Motorola cellphone, furniture from Joybird, home fragrance products from Pura, makeup sets from Ipsy and co-branded shawls and blankets from cashmere company Janavi.
The Mocha Mousse shade follows 2024’s Color of the Year, Peach Fuzz, which is a pale blend of pink and orange.
“The everlasting search for harmony filters through into every aspect of our lives including our relationships, the work we do, our social connections and the natural environment that surrounds us,” Pressman said in Thursday’s release. “With that in mind, for Pantone Color of the Year 2025 we look to a color that progresses our embrace of the feeling of…Pantone 13-1023 Peach Fuzz into another dimension, extending further into our desire for comfort, and the indulgence of simple pleasures that we can gift and share with others.”
The Pantone Color Institute provides color standards, brand identity and product color consulting to graphics, fashion and product design businesses. It created its Color of the Year program in 1999, and also offers color trend reports, trend forecasting and color psychology services.
