Photo: The Development/Pantone
PANTONE has spoken: 2025 is going to be a year of healing, nourishment, grounding, and comfort.
These are the qualities ascribed to the 2025 Color of the Year: PANTONE 17-1230, or in plain language, Mocha Mousse. A decades-long tradition, each year the color juggernaut company PANTONE, best known for their self-titled proprietary color matching system, although one may argue their Color of the Year program has surpassed it in the public consciousness, select a singular color that, in their words, capture the "global zeitgeist" of the year. The tradition began in the year 2000, with PANTONE selecting cerulean as the inaugural Color of the Year.
Photo: The Development/Pantone
It's a secretive, labored, and intensive process that involves secret meetings, multinational representatives, and furtive, presumably impassioned discussions, disagreements, and debates. Tom Vanderbilt for Slate Magazine describes sneaking into these clandestine meetings for the scoop on how PANTONE declare the color that would capture a year: in an unnamed European capital, the company meets twice a year. They call together a committee of representatives from various countries, each from their own color standards groups.
The next two days are filled with fervid presentations and fierce debate. The drab meeting room, chosen intentionally so as not to influence the discussion, becomes tempered by technicolor treatises. Some prescience and fortune-telling is required, for the color they choose is for the following year. Amidst vibrant colors and deep shadows, this is no joke. This is serious business. This is polychromatic divination.
Photo: Pantone
And so it was for 2025, when those annual multinational meetings took place this year, and PANTONE laid colorful waste on a prismatic battlefield waged in some mysterious, foreign capital to give their prophecy on the year to come. The victor, after all was said and done, and the war was won? Mocha Mousse, like chocolate, or a cup of coffee.
It's grounded. It's humble. It keeps you nice and warm. And so it shall be! To all ye devout color citizens of the world; let's make 2025 a year of connection, comfort, and harmony. Well, because PANTONE said so. On their choice, Executive Director of Pantone Color Institute Leatrice Eiseman shares, "Underpinned by our desire for every day pleasures, PANTONE 17-1230 Mocha Mousse expresses a level of thoughtful indulgence. 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."
Photo: Pantone
Ah, yes. It's very quaint. But let's be real: a lot of us only salivate for the Color of the Year because of the fashion! Yeah, yeah, I can aspire to the warming, grounding qualities of mocha mousse. But besides that, when Pantone chooses its Color of the Year, it often has a significant influence on fashion and beyond, setting trends across various industries. Designers and brands frequently incorporate the Pantone Color of the Year into their collections, leading to its widespread presence in clothing, accessories, and even beauty products. Let's take a look at the ways in which Mocha Mousse manifested itself within this year and the manners in which its quiet luxury may have influenced its anointment to its important, trendsetting role next year.
Photo: Getty Images
Ah, it makes sense, doesn't it? Showing up to a screening of her new film Unstoppable just last month, Jennifer Lopez steps out in an outfit that perfectly captures the Fall season. And you know what? It's Mocha Mousse. With a brown knit Gucci sweater, glossy brown knee-high stiletto boots from Saint Laurent, brown gloves, and a matching pair of trendy, fuzzy micro shorts, JLo looks ready to drink every cup of pumpkin spice latte in the world.
Completing the look with a sparkling crystal collar and a deep brown shoulder bag (ditching her signature Birkins, because we are grounded and humble on this day), Lopez looks equal parts classy and comfy. In case you were wondering, the trio of top, bottom, and shoe total $7140, but you know, these colors really make us feel grounded. Maybe someone should pass her a note that we offer savings anywhere from 70%-90% on authentic designer brands such as Gucci and Saint Laurent!
Photo: Robert Kamau
For New York Fashion Week, the world caught a glimpse of our Mocha Mousse future as Rihanna opted for this silky smooth dress by Jawara Alleyne. The V-neck dress was styled with multiple knots and twists, capturing her beautiful figure and outlining her waist and torso even among the draping layers and oversized sleeves. And having just been announced the new face of Dior's J'adore only days prior, the beauty mogul wasted no time in embracing her ambassadorship with a vintage 2004 edition Diorissimo Rasta Boston Bag.
The bag is monogrammed with a brown pattern, but vibrant red, green, and yellow straps and handles lend a much-appreciated pop of color to Rihanna's look, reiterating to us all that neutrals are funner with colors, and vice versa. The look is completed with brown Phoebe Philo shades, classic black stilettos peeking out of a front slit, and not least of which to mention, a veritable mound of necklaces and chains, including diamond, gold, and a large gemstone cross.
Hey, you know what's interesting? Speaking of becoming the new face of Dior's J'adore, when the new partnership was announced, the whole campaign was very... Mocha Mousse! PANTONE sees all, it turns out. On partnering with Dior, Rihanna shares that she is "especially looking forward to joining this adventure and contributing to it through my world, my story, my roots, as well as my creativity and my own femininity." So it begs the question: is Rihanna ultimately the one who brought us the year of Mocha Mousse, through her world, story, and roots? Either way, she looks warm and radiant, like a cup of coffee, or like a comforting bowl of homemade soup around the crackling fireplace of a rustic cabin. Served in the most bejeweled bowl you've ever seen.
Rihanna in custom Dior golden sequined dress by Maria Grazia Chiuri for Dior.
Photo: Christian Dior
Oh, and what is it with the food references with it comes to color, and in particular, the newest Color of the Year? I mean, with a name like Mocha Mousse, the food connection is inescapable; it's ingrained in the etymology. In fact, the cynic might pose the question: "isnt Mocha Mousse just... brown, but edible?" For what makes Mocha Mousse special besides conjuring images of warm drinks and sweet desserts?
And hey! PANTONE's Color of the Year 2024 was Pantone 13-1023, otherwise known as... Peach Fuzz! So, what's the deal? Is PANTONE trying to make us hungry with colors? Well, as co-leader of the Pantone Colour Institute Laurie Pressman will tell us, it's very intentional. "There’s this whole 'foodification' of colour that we’ve seen come into being,” Pressman says. "It’s not just a matter of taste. It's also talking about our surroundings, our clothing — when you look at a colour and you say, 'Oh, it’s absolutely delicious,' it’s not necessarily just because it’s edible, but because it’s so appealing to you."
Photo: Pantone
It's an interesting perspective, to be sure. In joining taste with both meanings of the word: of stylistic preference, and of sensory, direct and primitive perception of food when it hits the tongue, Pressman puts forward a vision of color and aesthetic as an element of multi-dimensional consumption. An embodied taste that encompasses the mind and the body.
Well, as we march into the coming year, we have but to see if the philosophy and prophecy of PANTONE comes to pass, and if the year of 2025 is as earthy, as sophisticated, and as lush as Mocha Mousse would have it. We're looking for subtle indulgence, a deep richness, and some much-needed healing for all of us in the year of Mocha Mousse.
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