'Like Daisy Edgar-Jones, I Too Love Pantone's Colour Of The 2025'
In July 2024, something strange happened. Daisy Edgar-Jones attended the premiere of Twisters in a custom corseted Vivienne Westwood silk chiffon gown, which was a triumphant shade of chestnut-brown. This, in itself, was not unusual. Edgar-Jones has been one of the year’s brightest stars, displaying a sartorial evolution as meteoric as her career ascent – all while leading a Brit It Girl renaissance in the process. No, what was curious about the look was that it has made me want to wear brown almost exclusively ever since.
It appears I’m not alone. Pantone has announced that ‘mocha mousse’ is its colour of the year for 2025. This 'mellow brown hue' has been chosen for its 'inherent richness and sensorial and comforting warmth', according to the company’s in-house trend forecasting agency. The reaction has been mixed, with social media critics quick to comment on the shade’s less pleasing associations – ‘A colour that signifies just how much 💩 we're going to deal with,’ quipped one – while The Guardian asked: ‘do I eat it or wear it?’
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In my opinion, there’s great joy to be found in the latter, and Edgar-Jones isn’t the only star to agree. Just yesterday, irresistible style muse Hailey Bieber posted an Instagram selfie in a vintage brown skirt suit from Gianni Versace’s autumn/winter 1996 collection, complemented by her trademark Rhode lip gloss phone case in a shade of – you guessed it – chocolate brown. And back in Chloé’s viral autumn/winter 2024 show, it was the 1970s-inspired shades of tan, conker and walnut – set dreamily against feminine frills and sheer pastels – that sparked the year’s boho resurgence.
The new brown palette feels like a fresh take on the ‘aesthetics’ that have dominated the last few years – clean girl and quiet luxury, which are defined by neutral palettes and The Row-flavoured minimalism. The timeless allure of mouse, walnut, sepia, chestnut, tobacco, coffee, cashew and everything in between brings new life to these tired tropes, without sacrificing the elevated appeal that’s made them so enduring. The mocha mousse movement takes Gwyneth Paltrow’s memorable ivory roll-neck from the viral ‘I wish you well trial’ and asks, have you got this in a deep taupe?
My personal rediscovery of the shade has been quick, all-consuming and oddly mushroom-heavy. There’s a Reformation cashmere jumper in the most delicious shade of ‘dachshund’ that I think about most days (as well as some ‘porcini’ trousers). Then there’s the ‘shiitake marl’ knit from Varley that I can’t stop wearing with chocolate-brown faux leather leggings – because if you can double denim, you can absolutely double down on brown. It’s the perfect shade for moto-style leather jackets, knee-high boots, and Fendi baguettes.
Jadey Cashmere Oversized V-neck Sweater
Trey Stretch-Leather Straight-Leg Pants
Rent Monogram Baguette
Mayfair Mock Neck Knit
As an alternative to black, it’s also the ideal choice for versatile, wear-with-everything outerwear, from a trusty puffer to an insouciant Penny Lane coat. ELLE UK’s Site Fashion Editor Clementina Jackson recently told me that she has to consciously remind herself not to buy only brown items this season – there are other shades out there – but has nevertheless gone from having never owned a brown coat to adding five to her wardrobe in so many months.
Yes, we are women possessed, dedicated converts, dressed in 50 shades of brown. This newfound love is especially befuddling to me because brown happened to be the colour of my school uniform, a left-field choice that instilled what I assumed would be a lifelong aversion to wearing the shade. Given brown’s scatological connections, me and my fellow school friends were the proverbial butt of years of jokes from rival schools. But look who’s laughing now.
The mocha palette is only a few stops on the colour wheel away from the tones that have dominated the latter half of the year – oxblood, burgundy and plum. Everyone from Kate Middleton to Gigi Hadid have added credence to this popular autumnal palette, and brown ties in with it all perfectly.
Just this week, Hadid proved this while out for a girls’ dinner with Taylor Swift; the model wore a cropped chestnut-burgundy leather moto jacket, Chianti-coloured croc boots and Miu Miu’s leather Beau bag in the shade ‘Briarwood’, which stands somewhere between mahogany and Bordeaux.
That’s the other nice thing about brown (and brown-adjacent) shades: most of them have fun, Epicurean names, making the whole trend even more delicious. So I say let’s all toast the imminent arrival of 2025 with a mocha mousse or two – or at least a fab brown handbag.
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