December: the season of mince pies, fizz, parties and trend forecasts. Whatever happened to being in the moment? Must we really cast our minds forward to 2026, and whether hispi cabbage will be replaced by napa, or leather bomber jackets by “literary chic”?
Into this maelstrom of predictions for 2026 comes Pantone, the influential United States-based colour institute, whose “colour of the year” pronouncements tend to have more credence than most. However improbable it may have seemed last December, its 2025 prediction, Mocha Mousse, turned out to be bang on the money, embraced by the fashion, beauty, architecture and interiors worlds as heartily as a 9am flat white. So fervently did Kim Kardashian commit to mocha via her Skims empire that it’s tempting to wonder whether she and Pantone are in cahoots.
Certainly, it has its haters, but whatever your feelings about brown, at least mocha was a colour. So, too, were Pantone’s predictions for 2024 (Peach Fuzz) and 2023 (Viva Magenta). By contrast, the punt for 2026 may feel somewhat underwhelming. In what is surely excellent news for minimalists, chefs and Geri Horner, Pantone’s colour of the year is white.
