FAST AND SAFE FASHION COLORS
Fast fashion has continuously changing designs, where color plays an important role. While maintaining all quality aspects of the garment and meeting consistency of color and color performance standards are vital, the first victim of fast fashion can often be quality.
Due to physical color submissions processes for approval, shades are accepted that are not the best color match due to running out of time. With 50 years of commercial industrial use and experience, the proven solution is to use digital systems to communicate and approve color. Leading international brands are using digital color as a way to reduce lead times, costs and improve color quality and matching, while contributing to the delivery of important environmental and sustainability programs.
With professionally certified production sites, dyers are provided with knowledge, skills and confidence to use digital tools and to make the correct pass/fail decision at the point of manufacture. This empowers the decision maker at the right place in the supply chain.
Use this list for an overall understanding of the color management process in your supply chain
We have written a list with below bullets that will give you a foundation to take actions for increase effectivity and efficiency in your supply chain’s color management process. Take notes when you are at the dye house and when possible also pictures!
Certification…
- Are your suppliers/dye houses currently certified for color by any other brand? Find out what brand.
Equipment and working areas…
- What type of light box do your suppliers/dye houses have? And how is the general appearance such as condition and light sources, what are the different illuminate choices in the light box and what is the interior color?
- What type of fabric conditioners do your suppliers/dye houses have?
- What type of Color spectrophotometer do your suppliers/dye houses have?
- Do all above equipment (light box, fabric conditioner, spectrophotometer) have up to date calibration/maintenance certificates?
- Do your suppliers/dye houses have an auto lab-dispensing machine or do they manually pipet recipe for lab dips?
- Are the color lab spaces neat clean and tidy?
- Ask to see the area where the bulk dyes are kept and dispensed, check the level of neatness.
- How is the ambient lab room temperature controlled?
- Are the operators wearing grey or navy lab coats?
Samples and storage…
- See what your suppliers/dye houses actually receive as a color request and the color standard swatch your suppliers/dye houses receive to match, or see the Pantone standard they use.
- Ask if your suppliers/dye houses use color standard reflectance data, and how they get it.
- Check out where your suppliers/dye houses store your color standards.
- Ask to see how your suppliers/dye houses keep continuity records, for lab dip salesman samples and bulks.
- Are color approvals documents neat clear and organized and are fabric samples nice big pieces?
Procedures…
- Have your suppliers/dye houses done any color vision tests?
- Ask the operators at your suppliers/due houses to show you how they visually assess standards and lab dips/bulk in the light box, do they follow a best practice?
- Ask for other customers, do they use color measurement and send pass/fail printouts? Get a copy example if possible.
- Ask what things that you do or do not do that cause your suppliers/dye house problems.
- Ask what things could you do that would help make the dyers manage color better.
Before you round off your day today, we encourage you to take time to consider why just doing something faster really isn’t an improvement. Allow designers and end-customers the freedom to enjoy a world of fast and safe colors.
