Rethinking brown
Wow, I’ve been saying to lots of people that brown is ‘having a moment’ but this shade surprised me, as Pantone’s colour of 2025.
There’s nothing outstanding about this choice. ‘Mocha Mousse’ is soft with a quiet warmth that is dusky and mellow. I’ve been seeing these soft and dusky neutrals being used more frequently in fashion and interiors and they blend well with blues and violets, burgundy and teal. Although fashion and interiors are separate fields, there is overlap and this is most obvious in terms of colour.
With the love of mid-twentieth century furniture and the embrace of more natural ways of living, I’ve been astounded by how much brown is included in interiors these days. Take a look at images in the wonderful The Design Files. To me, some of these interiors border on bland due to their absence of colour, but it’s a warmer and more comfortable look than the black, white and grey trend that is colder, harder and more institutional.
But Mocha Mousse is not this kind of brown. It’s not your typical mid-century tan or caramel; it’s duskier and pinker. It’s more mysterious.
Is it farewell to black, white and grey and hello to a softer scheme? Perhaps. And perhaps that’s exactly what we need. Look how soft and moody the classic colour schemes are below.
COMPLEMENTARY (the colour that sits opposite Mocha Mousse on the colour wheel)
ANALOGOUS (Mocha Mousse in the middle with the colours on either side of it on the colour wheel)
TETRADIC (Mocha Mousse on the left, being four evenly spaced colours on the colour wheel that are harmonious)
WHO WILL MOCHA MOUSSE WORK FOR?
Some might think all browns are warm rather than cool as brown can be a great neutral for people for whom black is too deep, clear and cool. But browns can be cool too, if they have an element of grey in them. Not so for Mocha Mousse. It has considerable amounts of red in it so it is better suited to warm complexions.
You’ll notice that all the colours represented here have a murky quality to them. This is the quality that makes them soft, and so if you have softness in your colouring they will look better on you than if your colouring is bright or clear.
Colour palettes Mocha Mousse will work for include:
Intriguing
Enigmatic
Exquisite
Exotic
Spicy
Autumns can easily wear Mocha Mousse, ie people with warm brunette, auburn, red or golden blonde hair and those with medium to deep warm complexions.
If you want to wear this colour and you tend bright and clear, wear it with black or white and watch them dominate as this becomes a supporting colour.
Aqua will make it pop and rose beige or even rose will be very comfortable with Mocha Mousse. See below.
For more ideas on how to style Mocha Mousse, check out Helen in Fisk! Her infamous suit is almost this colour, though a little more yellow. If nothing else you’ll get a laugh and perhaps ponder further on why Pantone chose Mocha Mousse for 2025’s colour of the year!