How to Choose Colors, Pantones, and Lab Dips for Lingerie Design

As an entrepreneur, you will have to wear many hats. One of those hats will be that of a designer. Whether you are designing your own line or someone else is helping you out, you will need to know the ins and outs of choosing colors, finding the right Pantone, and approving lab dips.

The following is a quick guide on how to choose a color, find the matching Pantone code, and approve lab dips during the lingerie design and manufacturing process of intimate apparel.

How to Choose a Color

When it comes to fashion and trends, colors are constantly changing. As a designer, it is important to stay up-to-date with the latest color trends. But how do you choose the right color for your design?

There are four things you should keep in mind when choosing a color:

1) The message you want to communicate;
2) The demographics of your target market;
3) The season;
4) The overall aesthetic of the design.

Let’s say you are designing a lingerie set for your summer line. You want the bra to be eye-catching and convey the message of fun. In this case, you would probably want to use bright colors such as yellow, orange or pink. These colors are very summer-y and translate a tropical mood.  Now that you know how to choose a color, let’s move on to choosing the Pantone.

How to Find the Right Pantone

A Pantone is an internationally recognized system for matching colors. In order to choose one, you will need two things: 1) A Pantone book; and 2) The specific color you want to match a Pantone for.

Once you have these two things, follow these steps:

1) Find the page in the book with the color family that best matches the color you want (you can match to anything, for another garment, a piece of fabric, a flower, etc.)
2) Find the specific shade on that page that most closely resembles the color you want;
3) Match the number next to that shade with the corresponding number in your design software (i.e., Adobe Illustrator);
4) And voila! You have matched the perfect Pantone. Now let’s move on to approving lab dips.

Approving Lab Dips

But what exactly is a “lab dip“? A lab dip is when a factory dyes a small piece of the fabric to match a specific Pantone you provided. Normally they dye  2-3 options in slightly different shades and send them to the client for them to approve the right shade. Normally they will come labeled as “A”, “B”, and “C”, and once you pick the right one, you need to communicate to the factory which one is the approved one.

You need to have a really good eye for detail and color to be able to pick the best option as all three might look very similar, but even then, choosing the right one will make a big impact on the finished garment.

The factory will do lab dips for each component (ie. fabrics, linings, elastics, trims, etc) and you need to choose the right one for each of the components so they are all the same shade and look very cohesive on the garment when all trims are sewn together into the garment.

The color selection process for a lingerie design can be daunting. With the right tools, however, it can be a fun and exciting experience. By following these simple steps and using the Pantone Codes, you can be sure that the colors on your garments are accurate and consistent. If you have any questions about lab dips or color matching, please do not hesitate to contact us.