When you’re developing apparel, it’s easy to focus on silhouette, fabric, and fit, but colour is equally crucial. Colour matching ensures your product looks exactly how you imagined it, consistently across materials, suppliers, and production runs.
This guide will walk you through what colour matching is, how it works, and why it matters.
Colour matching is the process of selecting and reproducing colours so they remain consistent. This is more complex than simply picking a shade - everything from lighting to fabric type can affect how a colour appears.
The process starts with a reference colour, usually either:
• A Pantone® swatch, or
• A fabric swatch sourced from anywhere.
Pantone is preferred because it’s an internationally recognised standard. A Pantone book in Melbourne will match one in Guangzhou, which is essential when you’re working across continents. There are other international standards available, but Pantone is the most common.
Pantone offers books in several different formats, but I would always recommend their cotton swatch books (aka TCX). Here’s why:
• Fabric interacts with light differently than card.
• Texture, sheen, and weight can change the perceived colour.
• Using actual material helps you to visualise the colour on fabric when in early selection processes.
Once you share your chosen Pantone colour with your material supplier, they will create a lab dip; a small dyed sample swatch on the intended final fabric.
Typically, the supplier will produce 2–3 lab dip variations for you to review and select from.
One of the biggest challenges in colour matching is ensuring you and your supplier are looking at colour under the same conditions. Otherwise, what looks perfect to your factory could look completely wrong to you, and this can make discussing colour difficult.
Here’s how professionals achieve consistency:
1. Use a lightbox.
A lightbox (like one from VeriVide) is essentially a box with an open front, grey walls, and multiple lighting options built into the roof.
• The grey walls are a neutral background, avoiding glare or reflection.
• There are 4-5 different light sources built in, with the most commonly used being:
- D65 (Daylight): Simulates natural daylight, often used for products like swimwear that will be worn outdoors.
- TL84: Simulates store lighting. For example, TL84 is the standard lighting used by many retailers to ensure products look consistent on the shop floor.
- UV light: Helps detect contamination or optical brighteners.
2. Control the environment.
• View colours in a dark room, free from other light sources, to prevent contamination.
3. Set a consistent viewing angle.
• Some brands specify a 45-degree viewing angle, which you can create with a grey foam-covered platform.
• This board also makes it easier to pin samples securely and view them flat.
Reviewing lab dips is methodical:
1. Set up your samples.
• Pin the lab dip flat on the viewing board.
• Align the Pantone swatch edge to edge, never overlapping (which can create shadows or hide the true colour).
• Make sure the lab dip is at least 2-ply, or 4-ply for sheer fabrics.
• Smooth out any creases.
2. Compare the colour carefully.
• Look for differences in hue (more red, blue, or yellow), brightness (lighter or darker), and saturation (brighter or duller).
• It’s normal for the first submission not to be perfect.
3. Give clear feedback.
• Be specific: “Too blue, go more red.”
• If helpful, provide approximate percentages: “Go darker by 20%.”
• Keep in mind that different fibres absorb dye differently. For example, wool has a natural yellow undertone that may make it impossible to match cotton perfectly.
4. Compare across submissions.
• When you receive a second lab dip, pull out the Pantone reference and the first submission. This helps you see whether your comments were followed and if the colour is improving.
Metamerism describes when colours look the same in one light but different in another.
This is why you should check samples under multiple lighting conditions. Metamerism can be a bigger problem when using multiple materials in one garment because while one fabric might stay consistent, another can shift dramatically between daylight and store lighting.
Proper storage is essential to maintain the integrity of lab dips:
• Between submissions: Keep lab dips in a folder, protected from dirt, damage, and light.
• Once approved:
- Mount the sample on grey card using double-sided tape. Avoid clear sticky tape because it can damage the edges, and lab dips are already small.
- Label the card with:
> The Pantone code
> The Pantone colour name
> Any internal colour names assigned by your brand.
• If matching multiple fabrics: Lay out all approved swatches together to ensure they match each other. Store them side by side on the same grey card for easy reference.
Even with all this precision, human perception is never identical. Some people are able to see a wider range of colours than average (called Tetrachromacy), some may see colours warmer or cooler, and some (like me) even notice that their left and right eyes see colours slightly differently.
This is one more reason to rely on standardised processes and controlled environments, rather than subjective impressions.
Once lab dips are approved, the bulk fabric is dyed, and it’s normal for this to differ slightly from your sample due to the larger scale of production. Before moving forward, you’ll receive bulk fabric swatches to check under the same controlled lighting you used for lab dips. If the colour isn’t quite right, you might request a sample garment made from the bulk material to see whether the variation is still acceptable in a finished product.
Redyeing bulk fabric is possible but isn’t a quick fix, as it can affect the fabric’s quality (for example, causing pilling). Many suppliers also use digital colour measurement tools to objectively compare bulk batches to the approved lab dip. For repeat productions - especially continuity collections - it’s good practice to check fabric colour every six months to keep your stock consistent over time.
Colour matching might look like a small detail on a spec sheet, but in practice, it’s a critical step in developing high-quality apparel. From selecting your reference swatch to reviewing lab dips, managing bulk fabric submissions, and maintaining consistency over time, every stage requires careful attention.
Done well, this process protects your brand’s reputation and ensures your customers receive products that meet their expectations no matter where or when they buy them.
If you’re starting out or looking to improve your colour management processes, remember: consistency comes from clear standards, controlled conditions, and good communication with your suppliers.
Need help with colour matching or other aspects of product development? Feel free to get in touch, I’d love to support you in bringing your vision to life.
