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Inspiration can be an elusive commodity. While some creative types have the luxury of waiting for their capricious muses to arrive, others have strict deadlines to meet. The world of commerce has little time for the temperamental artiste.
For those who must produce within these marketplace constraints, there are a variety of activities and resources that can often prove helpful. For textile and apparel designers, Cotton Incorporated offers a myriad of valuable resources: Apparel Color and Fabric Trend Forecasting, released twice annually, and Home Color and Fabric Trend Forecasting, offered once a year.
But where, then, do those who offer inspiration turn for their inspiration? And just how do the people who create and coordinate these forecasts know what the important color stories will be for fashionable looks that won't be arriving at retail racks for up to 20 months afterward? Once color direction is decided, what is done to translate these ideas into the color cards so widely used in the industry? The process starts at Cotton Incorporated Consumer Marketing Headquarters in New York City.
“Our team begins with in–depth analysis of emerging trends, represented through color photography, trend boards, color yarns, fabric swatches and written overviews exploring each trend and its application,” according to Suzanne Shapiro, Senior Director, Fashion Marketing, who leads the project.
Shapiro also acknowledges numerous other inspirations that might be more difficult to pinpoint. “Up–to–the–minute trends can not only be seen at the runway shows we attend, but by just walking down the street and watching how people dress. Obviously,” Shapiro adds, “some neighborhoods are better for this than others, and we keep a particular eye on youth culture. We all recognize the fact that from the ages of thirteen through the early twenties, the consumer tends to be more adventuresome and daring with their wardrobe choices.” Other influences Shapiro cites include subcultures and immigrant groups, as well as lifestyle and cultural trends. “If there seems to be an interest in the arts or the culture of a particular country, cues can be taken from that,” she notes.
Cotton Incorporated's fashion forecasters might also be found at art galleries, vintage or second–hand stores, and other unusual retail venues. “Sometimes, the smallest, quirkiest shop in an offbeat neighborhood can be where a concept starts,” Shapiro reveals. “I've been inspired by things like the colors of a tablecloth from the 1950s.”
All of this research and the reports that result have earned Shapiro and her team an international reputation. “We are the only American company invited to what's known as the early color committee meetings, which take place in Paris after the Premiere Vision fabric show. This gives us access to ideas from a select group who are considered among the most important color visionaries in the world,” Shapiro emphasizes. “These experts are retained by multinational corporations to predict and assess trends far in advance.”
“We then take all of this disparate information and brainstorm together,” Shapiro says. After much deliberation, it's time to go through a box of yarn reelings and swatches that have been collected over the years, and choose those that approximate the color predictions for the season.
Once organized into color groupings, it's all sent off to Ed Turner, Manager, Color and Technical Services, at Cotton Incorporated World Headquarters in Cary, NC.
“I'll get a package containing small fabric swatches and yarn samples, and sometimes even paint chips and pieces of paper,” Turner reports. “The challenge is to quickly match these colors and formulate the dyes and processes needed to reproduce them in a commercial dye house.” This can be done with the aid of a spectrophotometer and computer, but, Turner notes, “Some of these swatches and yarn samples can be too small for scanning.” In these cases, Turner relies on his own eye, which also allows him to get a sense of the “mood, concept or feeling” the forecasters might be trying to communicate in their choices.
For computer match formulations, Turner relies primarily on SLI–Form software from SheLyn, Inc. “We are still in the process of dyeing new primaries and updating the information in our color matching software,” Turner says, “so we also will use the software and primaries available from dye manufacturers such as Ciba and their Helios system.” Turner continues, “We prefer to offer dyehouses options in terms of which vendor they choose and still get similar results. However, my primary goals are to provide a shade formulation with good color constancy when viewed under daylight and cool white fluorescent lighting, plus have good dyeing and good properties. Most of the formulations use dyes that can be used for pad batch or exhaust dyeing.”
Once dye formulations and procedures are determined, Turner dyes bleached mercerized 32/1 100% cotton yarn, which is used for the yarn tabs on the color strips and color cards. The yarn is wound into skeins and dyed in glass tubes in an Ahiba Texomat. After drying, Turner looks at the results under D65 light, which simulates daylight. This is then sent to New York for approval. “Ed usually comes very close with most colors on the first try,” Shapiro reports. “Sometimes we'll send certain shades back for adjustments. We've also found that he uses his instincts to interpret a color that might be slightly different than the reeling we sent, and it will actually be closer to what we had in mind. He understands that these colors not only work alone, but tell a story that relates to the other colors in the grouping.”
Once the approval process is complete, Turner writes up formula procedures and gives them to the Cotton Incorporated application laboratory where multiple packages can be dyed. These are then included in the elaborate Color and Fabric Trend Forecasting books.
Of course, Turner's job does not end there, as he needs to ready himself for calls from dyehouses that might want to reproduce the forecasted colors. “We want to provide a dye formulation that can actually be reproduced in a dye facility with standard equipment,” Turner emphasizes. “There are also numerous variables different dyehouses might be looking at, including color and light fastness, as well as washability, not to mention different fabric constructions and end uses.” Turner also uses many of these formulations when dying fabrics or yarns for Cotton Incorporated’s Fabric Development and Fiber Processing groups.
These formulations are available from Cotton Incorporated upon request free of charge, as is the Color Forecast and a variety of other technical and fashion services. It's what makes Cotton Incorporated unique in the quest of its mission to increase the consumption and profitability of cotton. Let us help you to find your inspiration, and make it a reality.
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