Colour Trend: Mocha Mousse - A Deliciously Evocative Shade Named 2025 Colour of the Year

How enticingly rich it is! The trend for 2025 is deliciously BROWN.  Forecasting consultancy Pantone, the global authority on colour, has unveiled Mocha Mousse as its Colour of the Year 2025.

According to Pantone, Mocha Mousse (PANTONE 17-1230) embodies a sophisticated and earthy elegance that can shine on its own or act as a versatile anchor for diverse palettes. From minimalist designs to intricate, detailed creations, this adaptable hue offers endless possibilities across industries that prioritize colour.

Describing the shade as a "sophisticated mellow brown," Laurie Pressman, Vice President of the Pantone, highlights its "inherent richness and sensorial warmth."  She notes that its comforting, indulgent quality resonates with our collective yearning for simplicity, connection, and shared pleasures. This evolution from last year’s Peach Fuzz—a similarly comforting tone—reflects a continued emphasis on themes of solace and grounding.

Leatrice Eiseman, Pantone’s Executive Director, calls Mocha Mousse an "unpretentious classic" that aligns with a growing preference for products that are seasonless, gender-neutral, and versatile. This trend reflects both rising living costs and the increasing focus on sustainability.

In fashion terms, this colour trend embodies the concept of quiet luxury, reflecting a preference for understated opulence through warm, inviting tones exuding confidence and elegance.

Since 1999, Pantone has selected a Colour of the Year to capture the essence of the cultural moment and the year ahead. The choice, drawn from Pantone’s extensive color library, is determined by the team’s global explorations, interviews, and analysis of visual trends.

Hugo Boss adopts new work model starting October while The Rolling Stones open new retail shop in London in September

Photo from Hugo Boss/facebook: Take it easy: elevating your dressed-down style,
with Bettina Looney, James Kagonge, and Tommy Marr #ThisIsBOSS

Hugo Boss’ current dress-down style reflects its new work model of work-life split between office and home. The brand is one of the first major fashion companies to ask employees to work from the office from Tuesdays to Thursdays even after the Covid-19 crisis, reports FashionUnited. The “Threedom of Work” work model will be implemented from October, initially applicable to the 3,200 employees in the brand’s native Germany whose jobs do not require physical attendance at the workplace.  Hugo Boss will certainly not be the last in the fashion industry to adopt new work arrangements.

Meanwhile the UK government’s scheme of “Eat Out to Help Out” seems to have brought vibrant business to eateries around the country, even though the British high street continues to suffer from lack of shoppers as more retailers and chain stores are reporting closures and job cuts on a scale unseen since the financial crisis of 2008.

London seems to be struggling to get back to pre-pandemic normal for lack of high-spending tourists and workers still opting to work from home rather than heading back to the office in the Capital, ahead of the furlough scheme ending.  Chief executive Helen Brocklebank of Trade association Walpole, which counts Boodles, Burberry and Harrods as members, said in a letter to culture secretary Oliver Dowden, the pandemic has disproportionally affected central London, which is deemed as the shop window of British luxury for UK and international visitors. London-based luxury businesses are reporting that trade is currently running at 5% to 10% of normal.

Perhaps a new shop by the British iconic rock group The Rolling Stones is one way of luring shoppers back to the capital, at least for fans of the band and music pundits.

The Rolling Stones are to open their first flagship store, ‘RS No 9' on London’s Carnaby Street in September.  The new store is created in partnership with Bravado, Universal Music Group’s merchandise and brand management company. 

The Rolling Stones said in a statement: “Soho has always encapsulated Rock ’n’ Roll so Carnaby Street was the perfect spot for our own store. We are confident this exciting project that our friends at Bravado have created will be an unrivalled experience for everyone to come to London and enjoy.”

Reportedly the new store will have a shop fit that follows the band's colours of red and black, alongside glass floors featuring lyrics, and fitting rooms adorned with iconic album artwork.

It will allow fans to immerse themselves into the world of the band and will feature an extensive range of official merchandise along with new clothing and accessories including exclusive designer collaborations and one-of-a-kind pieces only available in store.

The collections will include new fashion and merchandise under the ‘RS No. 9 Carnaby’ brand, catering for “fans of all ages,” including men’s, women’s and children’s fashion and accessories, along with raincoats and hats from premium Swedish raincoat brand Stutterheim, chairs and scarves from The Soloist, and a special glassware collection developed with Baccarat engraved with the Rolling Stones tongue.

The store will also introduce ‘Stones Red,’ the official colour from Pantone which is established from the first use of the band’s iconic logo. A collection celebrating the Rolling Stones official Pantone colour will also launch with the store.

Elsewhere in the UK, industry watchers also point out that the pandemic and the damage it has done has accelerated retail trends that were already shaping business pre-pandemic.

UK supermarket Waitrose boss James Bailey has warned that the shift to shopping online is irreversible, particularly in the grocery sector.  It comes as the supermarket revealed stats - compiled for a report called How Britain Shops Online: Food and Drink Edition - showing 77% of customers now do at least some of their grocery shopping online, compared with 61% the year before.  

Bailey added: "The growth curve - representing the uplift in customer demand - has been steep and rapid, challenging all retailers’ resources.  Businesses have been forced to speedily face into the ascent and scale up their operations or face a slippery slide downwards.  Because online shopping quickly becomes habitual - these changes are unlikely to reverse." 

Bailey said: “Even before the Covid-19 pandemic, there are few retailers that wouldn’t have predicted the continued growth of e-commerce relative to physical shops.”

Ultra Violet is the PANTONE Colour of the Year 2018

Global colour authority PANTONE has announced that their Colour of the Year for 2018 is Ultra Violet, described as one of the most magical and decadent colours due to its "distinctive and complex purple shade that fascinates and intrigues” while conveying originality and ingenuity, 

Nuanced and full of emotion, the depth of PANTONE 18-3838 Ultra Violet "symbolizes experimentation and non-conformity, spurring individuals to imagine their unique mark on the world, and push boundaries through creative outlets."

“We are living in a time that requires inventiveness and imagination. It is this kind of creative inspiration that is indigenous to PANTONE 18-3838 Ultra Violet, a blue-based purple that takes our awareness and potential to a higher level,” said Leatrice Eiseman, Executive Director of the Pantone Color Institute. 

“From exploring new technologies and the greater galaxy, to artistic expression and spiritual reflection, intuitive Ultra Violet lights the way to what is yet to come.” Complex and contemplative, Ultra Violet suggests the mysteries of the cosmos, the intrigue of what lies ahead, and the discoveries beyond where we are now, said Eisemann, adding that the vast and limitless night sky is symbolic of what is possible and continues to inspire the desire to pursue a world beyond our own.

"The Colour of the Year is one moment in time that provides strategic direction for the world of trend and design, reflecting the Pantone Color Institute’s year-round work doing the same for designers and brands.”

Mylands Paint made-to-order and available only on the Mylands website and through their factory shop.

“As individuals around the world become more fascinated with colour and realize its ability to convey deep messages and meanings, designers and brands should feel empowered to use colour to inspire and influence. ”

Enigmatic purples have also long been symbolic of counterculture, unconventionality, and artistic brilliance. Musical icons Prince, David Bowie, and Jimi Hendrix brought shades of Ultra Violet to the forefront of western pop culture as personal expressions of individuality. 

“The Pantone Color of the Year has come to mean so much more than ‘what’s trending’ in the world of design; it’s truly a reflection of what’s needed in our world today,” added Laurie Pressman, Vice President of the Pantone Color Institute. “As individuals around the world become more fascinated with colour and realize its ability to convey deep messages and meanings, designers and brands should feel empowered to use colour to inspire and influence. ”

Pantone, a wholly owned subsidiary of X-Rite, Incorporated, is provider of professional colour language standards and digital solutions.

All things Green - Colour of the year 2017

It's official.  Green is the colour of the year 2017.

The Hotel Monopol at Puerto de la Cruz, Tenerife, oozes with old world charm.
Its inner courtyard off the reception is an oasis of calming greenery, filled with palm trees, hanging green ferns, evergreens, and tropical creepers that climb up to the glass roof  and 
surrounded on all sides by hand-carved wooden verandahs.  
Photo © Lucia Carpio, December 2016.

Colour institute Pantone has named green as the colour of the year 2017.  To be exact, the word they have used is Greenery, a colour inspired by nature, hope and fresh beginnings and described by Pantone as a "tangy yellow-green" often seen in foliage.

Considering the state of world affairs today, one also hopes the colour brings a sense of optimism.
Known on Pantone's colour chart as 15-0343 Greenery, which has been described as "a tangy yellow-green that speaks to our need to explore, experiment, and reinvent, the colour authority Pantone also says the colour is "illustrative of flourishing foliage; the fertile attributes of Greenery signals one to take a deep breath, oxygenate, and reinvigorate."

In an interview with the New York Times, executive director of the Pantone Leatrice Eiseman said it is a colour of hopefulness and of our connection to nature; a choice made in response to a "stressful and tense world".

Thomas Pink uses Rose Quartz and Serenity - PANTONE's key colours of 2016 - for new shirt range.

Perhaps it is in honour of the birth of a new royal baby girl called Charlotte together with her older brother Prince George that affect the decision to name two soft colours as the key Colour of the Year 2016.

For the first time, a blending of two colours has been chosen as Colour Of The Year 2016 by world colour authority - PANTONE: Rose Quartz and Serenity (PANTONE 13-1520 & PANTONE 15-3919).

The two shades are paired to express feelings related to mindfulness & well-being : calm, relaxation, reassurance, security, order and peace. "Rose Quartz is a persuasive yet gentle tone that conveys compassion and a sense of composure. Serenity is weightless and airy, like the expanse of the blue sky above us, bringing feelings of respite and relaxation even in turbulent times," according to Laurie Pressman, Vice President of Pantone Colour Institute™. 

The colours selected as our Pantone Color of the Year 2016 were taken from the PANTONE FASHION, HOME + INTERIORS Color System, the most widely used and recognized color standards system for fashion, textile, home and interior design. PANTONE 15-3919 Serenity and PANTONE 13-1520 Rose Quartz are included in this year's collection of 210 new shades.

Meanwhile, maximising on this pairing of shades is British shirt maker Thomas Pink which has collaborated with Pantone to curate a collection inspired by the two colours.

“The use of colour has long been a pillar of the Thomas Pink brand and something our customer has always embraced to express his distinctive point of view,” said Florence Torrens, Global Creative Director for Thomas Pink. “The 2016 Colour of the Year allows our gentleman to use fashion to convey a sense of stability, constancy and a quiet authority – traits that are necessary in today’s turbulent world.”

“The Pantone Colour of the Year selection captures the essence of what we see taking place in our culture during a specific moment in time, serving as an expression of a mood and an attitude on the part of the consumers,” said Laurie Pressman, Vice President of Pantone Colour Institute™. “We are seeing more and more men let go of traditional colour associations; allowing themselves to experiment with their wardrobe. As a brand known for leading the way with colour in men’s fashion, the collaboration between Pantone and Thomas Pink for our 2016 Colour of the Year selection is a natural choice.”

The Pantone 2016 Colour of the Year is offered in shirts and accessories throughout Thomas Pink’s collection both as seasonal and core pieces. Highlights include the Gibson classic fit shirt in superior, 100s two-fold cotton, the Caley knit tie, the Robin paisley pocket square and the Odd Spot sock among other key looks.

Pantone’s colour standards are used in multiple industries, from fashion to home furnishings and industrial design, as well as product packaging and graphic design. For 16 years, Pantone’s Color of the Year has influenced product development and purchasing decisions in these industries.  The experts at the Pantone Color Institute comb the world looking for new color influences. This can include the entertainment industry and films in production, traveling art collections and new artists, fashion, all areas of design, popular travel destinations, as well as new lifestyles, playstyles and socio-economic conditions. Influences may also stem from new technologies, materials, textures and effects that impact color, relevant social media platforms and even up-coming sporting events that capture worldwide attention.

About Thomas Pink:

Part of the Moet Hennessey Louis Vuitton group, Thomas Pink is a British shirt maker with flagship stores in London’s Jermyn Street, Madison Avenue, New York and Rue Francois Premier, Paris. Altogether there are more than 100 stores around the world – in USA, France, Mexico, Dubai, Hong Kong, Australia, China, Canada, South Africa, India and in the UK. As well as shirts for men and women Pink carries a wealth of luxurious silk ties, tailoring, knitwear and accessories. 

Floral Colours - Inspiration for Design and Fashion at Wiseley Garden

World colour authority Pantone named Radiant Orchid as the key colour of 2014, as has been seen on many catwalk collections for Spring/Summer 2014.

Orchid as seen at The Glasshouse, RHS Wiseley Garden, Surrey, UK.

To get inspiration of this unique colour, one can pay a visit to the RHS Wiseley Garden in Surrey, UK.  In The Glasshouse, I found a number of varieties such as the orchid shown in picture above that gives a wonderful purple tone.
But why stop there.  Here are a few more options of delicate and sweet floral colours found at Wiseley Garden.

STREPTOCARPUS

PELARGONIUM TRANSVAALENSE

NERINE "HITOMI"
All photos by Lucia Carpio for MY FASHION CONNECT.

Happy New Year 2014!

Photo: Nerine flowers at the RHS Wisley Garden, Surrey, UK.
Photo by Lucia Carpio for MY FASHION CONNECT.