FAD OR FOREVER?

KIRSTIE CLEMENTS QUIZZES A PANEL OF EXPERTS FOR THEIR TAKE ON THE COLOURS OF TODAY, YESTERDAY AND TOMORROW, STIRRING NOSTALGIC ANECDOTES AND SPARKING CONVERSATION. BUT DO COLOURS EVER REALLY DATE?

- STORY Kirstie Clements | PORTRAIT Fiona Susanto

Today's trending colour palettes have definitely moved far from the vanilla and neutral tones that were dominant for so long.

The Pantone 'Color of the Year' in 2025 was Mocha Mousse, and with it we've seen a rich resurgence of brown, treacle, cognac, russet, orange, burgundy and mustard-green hues, on the fashion runway as well as in home interiors, hotels and hospitality spaces. These colours are absolutely everywhere. But, as a child of the seventies, I am afraid of some of them. Orange, avocado-green, brown - these can scream The Brady Bunch to me, along with floral Corningware and the corduroy couch. However, is there a new way of embracing these tones? Let's hear what the experts had to say.

How do you feel about shades of brown, mulberry and orange? Andrew: "It's interesting that the younger market is taking these on. They've moved on from black and grey, and they're after a new rich colour; this is them embracing the new sexy. They don't have the memory or connotations about ['70s] burgundy and claret that I have. That's the thing about colour, people will have positive or negative memories."