Pantone Streamlines Color

By Staff -- Home Textiles Today, 3/12/2007 12:00:00 AM

Carlstadt, N.J. —

In an effort to shorten the color development process, Pantone has partnered with textiles colorant and chemical producer Clariant International to create a new series of tools for the home fashions industry.

The partners reformulated each of Pantone's 1,925 colors to reduce the number of dyestuff components used in them, thereby making the right color easier to produce in less time, according to Sid Estreicher, Pantone's corporate director of business development for fashion and home. The reformulation also ensures colors are more consistent from one light to another and maximizes color fastness, he said.

A jointly operated website, www.MatchPantoneColors.com, will provide dyestuff recipes to match Pantone Fashion + Home colors, backed by Clariant's dyestuff distribution network in 75 countries. The site also provides spectral data for each color, information Pantone did not previously supply.

Color swatches will now be packed in a BH-free, UV-resistant sleeve. "It's airtight, so it won't degrade in inventory," Estreicher said. Also, for the first time, Pantone is introducing a portable color book, which opens like an accordion to reveal all Pantone's colors for home.