Mocha Mousse:
Pantone’s 2025 Colour of the Year

“Rich and indulgent, PANTONE 17-1230 Mocha Mousse envelops us in a sense of comfort and warmth, inviting us to savor simple pleasures.”

This colour feels like the embrace of a familiar café. The scent of cocoa and coffee filling the air. It feels like luxury. It is a grounding shade, evoking a connection to nature and tradition while remaining adaptable to modern aesthetics. Mocha Mousse is versatile: it supports earthy palettes, complements brighter tones, and can act as a canvas for creative expression across design, fashion, and digital spaces.

Why Mocha Mousse?

Each year, the Pantone Color Institute selects a shade that reflects the collective cultural, social, and emotional landscape. The process involves analysing trends across art, fashion, design, technology, and global events.

For 2025, the choice is PANTONE 17-1230 Mocha Mousse, a warm and luxurious brown that speaks to our growing desire for authenticity, comfort, and indulgence. It sang on the Paris fashion runways and is weaving its ways into wardrobes, furnishings and fittings. It captures the spirit of ‘little treat culture,’ encouraging us to savor small joys.

What this means to us at Katanya

We are inspired by how colors can influence moods, shape experiences, and transform digital identities. For 2025, our 2024 prediction leaned towards earthy, neutral tones—perhaps a dark brown or muted beige (or maybe a dark red). Mocha Mousse while not flamboyant is exciting and brings depth and a richness to the fore.

In digital branding, this colour offers warmth and approachability, ideal for creating resonant customer experiences. It will provide a basis for beautiful pastel palettes perhaps even accented wattle yellows, herb-like greens and citrus oranges. For interiors and fashion, it brings an understated elegance and timeless appeal. Mocha Mousse encourages brands to explore tones that reflect authenticity, wellness, and indulgence in their messaging.

Tools for designers

Pantone provides resources to incorporate Mocha Mousse seamlessly into creative projects. Whether it’s bold branding, inviting UI designs, or grounding interior palettes, this shade is versatile and transformative. It’s perfect for fostering emotional connections and creating impactful visuals that resonate with diverse audiences.

Decoding Pantone’s process

The process shrouded in mystery, often involving secret meetings and global consultations. The colour is chosen through a meticulous process of trend analysis and consultation with global experts. From examining popular themes in art and fashion to identifying socio-cultural shifts, Pantone ensures the chosen hue captures the year’s essence. Previous clues on the secretive process has noted that colours used on cars are unlikely to be selected as the chemistry and technology is often ahead of other sectors.

Once the thrends have been identified Pantone’s colour ‘anthropologists’ then discuss colour psychology and colour trends. The colour selected must reflect a global mood, a lifestyle trend and an emotional aspect that resonates with the public. With this in mind is Mocha Mousse a indicator of a lifestyle shift towards comfort, muted luxury, or possibly nostalgia for the organic hues of the early to mid 90s?

A Look Back: Pantone’s Colors of the Year: 2000-2024

2000-2025 has been a journey through a spectrum of influential shades, each reflecting the cultural zeitgeist of its time.

Looking Ahead to 2025

As Mocha Mousse sets the tone for the year, we wonder: what stories will it tell? Will it inspire a shift towards slow living, mindful creativity, and grounding connections?

If you are planning to evolve your digital identity or explore new branding opportunities in 2025, Katanya’s design and technology experts are here to help. Together, let us make 2025 one of genuine warmth, authenticity, and creative transformation that inspires.

References

1. Pantone Color of the Year 2025 - Pantone

2. Washington Post on Mocha Mousse - Washington Post

3. Why Mocha Mousse Is Pantone’s 2025 Color of the Year - Time

4. Pantone's 2025 Color of the Year Is All About 'Pleasure and Deliciousness' - See the Shade! - People

5. Pantone Announced Its 2025 Color of the Year and It's a Minimalist's Dream - The Spruce

6. What is Mocha Mousse and Will It Sell? - Vogue Business

7. Mocha Mousse: How to Wear Pantone's Color of the Year for 2025 - InStyle

8. Pantone's 2025 Color of the Year Is a Toasty, Decadent Shade of Mocha - Better Homes & Gardens