Colour specialist Pantone has announced the launch of a special guide to help clothing designers to match and complement different skin tones.
Drawing on a total of 138 shades, the special-edition Pantone SkinTone Guide helps brands, creators and decorators in the worlds of fashion, beauty and product design to offer more inclusive colour matches.
The guide, now in its 10th year, includes 28 new shades in addition to the 110 existing SkinTone Guide shades. These new shades consist of a wider array of darker tones and yellow undertones, inspired and informed by Pantone customers seeking out specific colour matches that represent their communities.
Tannese Williams, product manager for fashion, home and interiors for Pantone, said: “Our goal is to provide an inclusive, global product, in both digital and physical spaces, that reflects our global society and empowers companies to offer more inclusive colour matches for their audiences around the world. Colour inclusivity has always been an important part of our work, and we look forward to leading that charge in this next evolution of our products.”
Welcoming the new guide, Shantell Richardson, co-owner of US clothing embellishments specialist Trim Knowtions, said: “For years the apparel industry has been without the vocabulary to describe the full breadth of skin tones we embody. The Pantone SkinTone tool acts as a new dictionary, redefining our understanding and expanding our standards around the word ‘nude’. When it comes to trimmings and accessories, materials in a wide range of neutral skin tones provide the perfect foundation for beadwork, particularly in bridal wear.”
