Retailers and brands are constantly looking for efficient solutions to meet consumer expectations. However, the fashion industry tends to try to make new technologies fit old processes.
Every BRAND FACES this problem and every MILL SUFFERS for it
Not all color standards are matchable on all fabrics and desired fastness cannot always be achieved. This puts the burden on the mill and it is often left to be dealt with at the end of the color development process.
There is a way to identify and resolve these problems upfront, however, before color requests are sent to the mills.
A mental shift. Parts of the design process needs to be reinvented. Several brands and retailers are already doing this and experiencing shorter lead times and reduced number of “Best Can Do” submissions.
We spoke with Doug Bynum at natific who is working with several brands and retailers to implement this shift using the new Voodoo software. Let’s hear what Doug says about the brands before and after experiences.
How did the brands work prior to implementing Voodoo?
Doug: The brands used a traditional digital or physical color standard developed on one fiber, and the colors were not typically checked for feasibility on the fiber types required by the brand in production.
What frustrations did the brands face working traditionally?
Doug: It can be summarized as three main things:
1. Cancellations of colors late in the development calendar.
2. Lack of color coordination on different fabrics required for the same color.
3. Frustrated suppliers with many rounds of lab dip submissions on colors that were not feasible.
What is the most common big a-ha moment for brands when starting with Voodoo?
Doug: The ability to ensure colors specified were possible before starting the color development season.
Why do brands select Voodoo and not any other solution?
Doug: Two main reasons:
1. Voodoo provides fast feedback on the feasibility of colors using the brands specific color matching and fastness specifications. Brands can very quickly know if colors selected by design are realistic and reproducible by the suppliers.
2. Voodoo can provide digital Optimized Spectral Curves (nOSC) to help address feasibility problems on colors. The nOSC gives the brand and mills a realistic standard that can be matched in production. This prevents multiple best can do approvals and inconsistency between different mills dyeing the same color and fabric.
How easy is it for brands to get started with Voodoo?
Doug: There is a transition period if using the natific nOSC to train suppliers on using the natific Optimized Spectral Curve.
Using Voodoo’s feasibility reports to guide the placement of a color on the required substrates is easy and can be done quickly.
How has Voodoo helped brands overcome the challenges they faced?
Doug: Knowing if colors are feasible for shade and fastness prior to starting the color development season is a huge advantage. It prevents color cancellations and also eliminates a lot of wasted time by the mills trying to match colors that are not even possible on a fiber type.
Knowing color feasibility based on their requirements for metamerism and fastness is the biggest benefit – speeding color execution using the nOSC is also an advantage.
How has Voodoo help the brands achieve their business goals? What metrics can be used to track performance?
Doug: Shortening lead times and reducing the number of “Best Can Do” submissions – this saves time for brand colorists and allows supplying dye houses to execute production faster. Using natific CAP mills makes execution of feasible colors using nOSC about as fast as you can get.
What would you say is the single biggest reason for brands to start with Voodoo?
Doug: Voodoo eliminates the specification of colors that are not possible on a fiber type. It ensures the colors they specify can be matched by dye houses if they use a technically correct dyestuff recipe.
Thanks Doug!
Doug: Thank you.
Would You like to check to see if your chosen colors are feasible and possible to be achieved in production? Contact our support team at support@natific.com for a demonstration of the natific Voodoo system.
Sincerely,
your natific team