Pantone Color - Fashion

Work in apparel, textiles or other soft goods? This is the place for you!

The Pantone Fashion, Home + Interiors System is the global leader in color standards for the fashion industry. Here’s why so many trust Pantone:

Pantone is the global standard.

Pantone has been a partner to the design community and their production partners for more than thirty years. We are immediately available on-demand through an international distribution network covering more than 75 countries. When a designer in one country communicates and specifies in Pantone, they know without question their color intent will be immediately understood by their production partners across the world, making color management easier and more reliable.

Cotton is a reliable standard.

Designers know when they specify with Pantone, the color they intend can be achieved. Each of the colors contained in the Pantone Fashion, Home + Interiors Color System is easily reproducible, as we use only dyestuffs that are globally available, approved, and optimized for color constancy and colorfastness. We choose a cotton standard, the designer’s preferred material of choice, because it is stable and versatile material. It is these qualities that enable cotton to be more accepted as a color standard across a wider variety of material applications.

We have multiple material formats.

Our formats lend themselves to the greatest color utility, making it easy for designers to find the color they desire. For those designers who are working across materials, Pantone offers the ability to color match textiles, plastics, printed materials, pigments, and coatings. Whether it’s our cotton swatch cards for textiles and apparel development or our paper chips for trimmings and leather goods, designers can choose the format that’s right for them.

Pantone has the right colors.

Our global team of color trend forecasters and color scientists are steeped in color knowledge across all areas of product design, from fashion and furnishings to beauty and branding. Our trend team not only influences the new colors that we bring into our palettes, they also influence the color direction for key material trade fairs around the world.

We manage color visually and scientifically.

Our parent company, X-Rite, helps ensure color accuracy through the supply chain via hardware and software that scientifically measures color. Their toolset includes a wide range of spectrophotometers, inline measurement and scanning instruments, formulation & quality control software, and 3D virtualization technology. X-Rite Pantone may be the only global one-stop-shop that can address all design, technical, and quality control needs in color.

The heart of our system is the swatch card…

The SMART Swatch Card is at the center of the Fashion, Home + Interiors system. In fact, it is the standard which every other FHI product references. Made on double-layered fabric to the exacting color specifications in the industry, the Pantone Swatch Card has been formulated for color fastness and color constancy. And, 2,310 colors are supported by spectral data, so you can be confident your final product will match your vision.

OUR TEXTILES COME IN A VARIETY OF FORMATS… FOR EVERY NEED AND PRICE POINT.

On the Go

Bring all 2,310 FHI colors wherever you go with the Cotton Passport! The accordion-style format makes it easy to see all Pantone colors at once. It is also the most affordable color standard tool in our system.

SHOP COTTON PASSPORT

At Your Desk

The Pantone Cotton Planner puts all 2,310 colors in a single binder for easy reference at your desk.

SHOP COTTON PLANNER

In the Studio

Go hands-on with our removable cotton formats. Cotton Chip Set and Swatch Library allow you to build color palettes with ease. Cotton Swatch Library is the only reference featuring cotton fabric in a double layered and un-backed 2” x 2” format, housing the largest and truest representation of each Pantone Color in our system.

SHOP COTTON CHIP SET
SHOP COTTON SWATCH LIBRARY

With Production

Double-layered, un-backed fabric on a non-optically brightened paper card. The definitive color standard for specification and production.

SHOP COTTON SWATCH CARDS

In need of a bright idea? Play with pop.

NYLON BRIGHTS

When it is time to get loud, 21 neon shades on nylon help you make a bold statement.

SHOP NYLON BRIGHTS

Or to match to other materials…

COLOR GUIDE FOR PIGMENTS & COATINGS

All 2,310 FHI colors on cotton are also available as lacquered coating. Match your textiles to coated buttons, zippers, trimmings, and accessories. Also great for leather!

SHOP COLOR GUIDE

PLASTIC STANDARD CHIPS

Our most popular FHI colors are also available in plastics, suitable on matching your textiles to plastic buttons, zippers, trimmings, and accessories.

See how designers use Pantone Fashion, Home + Interiors

“A lot of companies look toward color forecasting and try to incorporate whatever Pantone is referencing as their newest colors. No matter what Pantone is always spot on.”

– Designer, Global Athleisure Brand

“We have been using Pantone Cotton Swatches for as long as I can remember! The team relies on the Pantone Cotton Swatch to cross reference our internal color standards and we trust Pantone to provide 100% validation of own color standards.”

– Designer, Kids & Baby Clothing

“When you need to dye fabrication in certain colors, you need that to be exact and accurate. Pantone is a trusted global color language. What is great is you can purchase their color standard tools and also their trend books.”

– Designer, Women’s Retailer

Frequently Asked Questions

How do you select the colors for the FHI system?
In today’s complex and challenging marketplace, color is often that catalyst that sparks the sale, defines the space, and creates the mood. We select colors for the FHI system based on three important and distinct criteria. First, our global team of color trend forecasters look at the movement of color trends to ensure your palettes are fresh, modern, and relevant. Of course, we also understand the importance of core colors and the integral role they play in building your seasonal color stories. Therefore, we look at the color needs of the industries we serve and those we would like to better impact to ensure a comprehensive set of core and trend shades. Lastly, we only select colors that are easily achievable and reproducible, for greater usability and efficiency.

How are Pantone Textiles produced?
We choose cotton as our textile of choice because it is stable and versatile, enabling it to be more accepted as a color standard across a wider variety of material applications. Each of the colors contained in the FHI system uses dyestuffs that are globally available, approved, and optimized for color constancy and colorfastness. Our cotton system endures a five-step quality process to ensure the accuracy of the color at every stage of production and packing.

What is the difference between the Swatch Card and other cotton products?
All of the colors contained in our FHI cotton products are color references. The Pantone SMART Swatch Card is the definitive color standard, produced within a 0.5 Delta E tolerance to ensure color consistency. The swatch card is double-layered and un-backed on a non-optically brightened paper card then housed in a sealed, UV-protected pouch to protect the fabric from light and humidity. Only with the SMART Swatch Card can you ensure that your internal teams and production partners understand exact color intent.

Can the Color Guide (TPG) be used for textile applications?
To ensure the closest visual match, we recommend using the material format that is closest to your end use application. We recommend our textile cotton products (TCX) for all fabric applications. Because each material takes color differently, the same color in cotton, plastic, and on lacquered paper can vary slightly.

How does the naming convention work for FHI colors?
Each FHI system color has a unique name and number, such as in 15-1247 Tangerine. That color is differentiated across materials through a unique suffix. For lacquered coatings, the color would be noted as 15-1247 TPG Tangerine. For cotton, it would be noted as 15-1247 TCX Tangerine. In addition, for plastics, it would be noted as PQ 15-1247 TCX Tangerine.

Why should you update your Pantone Guides & Books?
Handling, light, humidity, and oil will cause colors to become inaccurate and you could be missing the latest market and trend driven colors. How many colors are you missing?

Which guide is right for me?

		COLOR			FORMAT
	CORE	NEONS	METALLICS	FIXED COLOR	REMOVABLE FORMAT	STANDARD	REFERENCE
Cotton Passport	X		X	X			X
Cotton Planner	X		X	X			X
Cotton Chip Set	X		X		X		X
Cotton Swatch Library	X		X		X		X
Nylon Brights		X			X		X
Swatch Card	X				X	X
Nylon Swatch Card		X			X	X