Clariant launches yarn color & trend forecasting tool

“Clariant’s ColorForward program is the best knowledge we have of today’s and tomorrow’s trends and how they influence the way consumers respond to color,” says Francis Baud, Global Head of Marketing – Textiles for Clariant Masterbatches. “We want to capture that knowledge and present it in a way that is specifically applicable to the textile, upholstery, and carpet industries. I am sure this unique initiative will spark great interest.”

Now in its eighth year, ColorForward’s directions have helped define the colors that can be expected to attract and move consumers in the future. It is the result of the collaborative effort of plastics color specialists from North and South America, Europe and Asia in the global network of ColorWorks design & technology centers of the Clariant Masterbatches Business Unit.

The service has helped manufacturers of all types of products get a head start on understand how color can influence consumer purchasing decisions. Now, the Clariant Masterbatches Textile Group has focused its specialized expertise to expand the ColorForward 2014 palette to help customers in the fiber and yarn market in the same way.

“Our colored masterbatches for textile yarn and filaments are used during the spinning process at our customers, for the production of end products such as carpets, fabrics, furnishings and seat covers,” says Baud. “Therefore, our expertise in color, consumer habits, polymer science and fiber processing is very valuable to our customers and their designers as they select and combine colors during the initial phase of the creation of their textile articles.”

ColorForward Interiors starts from a color palette created from an analysis of four important societal trends chosen by Clariant’s color experts from a myriad of global inspirations. Each trend theme is then represented by five colors that capture the spirit and emotion behind the trend. The palette is then doubled in size, to include complementary shades.

“Fabric and carpet designers tend to blend colors, merging bright hues with softer tones to create an overall color effect that makes a singular impression on the eye,” explains Judith van Vliet, designer at ColorWorks Europe/IMEA and a member of the ColorForward team. “ColorForward Interiors has 40 colors that designers can mix and match in a creative and playful way.”

Each color is reproduced in nylon or polypropylene fibers that are formed into pompons stored in a presentation box. The pompons can be rearranged inside the box to create hundreds of combinations. “We aren’t trying to tell designers which colors to use,” says Alessandro Pozzati, ColorWorks Europe/IMEA Industrial Designer. “The trend colors suggest what consumers may respond to in 2014, but how our customers use them is totally up to them. ColorForward Interiors is an inspirational tool.”