Archroma, Fashion Institute Partner to Create First Colour Centre

Archroma has partnered with the Fashion Institute of Technology (FIT) and its Textile Development and Marketing Department to create the first Archroma colour centre.

The Archroma colour centre @FIT is a facility where FIT students can utilize leading-edge industry colour management tools for their design projects, gaining hands-on expertise that equips them for successful careers in the fashion and textiles industries.

FIT students designed the space under the direction of Sean Cormier, an associate professor at the college’s Textile Development and Marketing program. Key components for the room were donated by Archroma.

The Archroma colour centre @FIT includes a large-scale colour reference that recreates the 4,320 hue colour atlas by Archroma as a wall-hung, flip-through display. A complete six-set Color Atlas - featuring an easy-to-use system of detachable fabric swatches - has also been donated to the lab, which students use to select hues for their design projects.

Colours from the physical colour atlas library are easily found using the cutting edge online colour search tool. A set of colour design tools representing each shade in colour atlas has also been donated for students to incorporate into their individual class presentations.

Students use the colour atlas as a guide in developing colour stories for various projects that are done in the FIT textile program, including a ‘colour pitching’ assignment where they must create two new colourways, one warm and one cool, for a chosen print.

“It’s key that FIT students not only graduate with the theoretical knowledge about how our industry works, but that they are exposed to the most advanced design libraries, tools, software and equipment. With Archroma’s generous donation of materials, our students are actually using and becoming familiar with a modern colour selection system that they will encounter when they walk into the marketplace after graduation,” said Sean Cormier.

“We’re giving the students a realistic environment to learn in. These are the same tools that they will use in industry, assembling colour palettes for seasonal design presentations and production specifications. We want the next generation of industry professionals to have hands-on experience with the next generation of tools,” added Brad McClanahan, global head of service businesses at Archroma.