Clariant, the color expert and manufacturer, has partnered with Francesco Franceschetti Elastomeri (FFE) on an in-depth research and color-finding project that has led to a solution for high-end ski boot application. Early in the summer of 2019, Clariant and FFE joined forces on an exhaustive study of the Italian ski boot marketplace and the colors that boot makers use in their products. The outcome was to be a comprehensive report and guide, including five colors suggested for the 2021/22 ski season. Experts focused on colors used in four key areas of the ski boot – the shell, the cuff, the buckles and accent areas – and created a 3D color map of about 2,000 color data points. This study gave color experts at Clariant a baseline and understanding of the colors present in the market. Based on the information gathered during interviews with ski shop owners as well as Clariant’s color map, Clariant created three mood boards to define the different target personalities and match them with colors to be used as a design guide for the new boots of the 2021–2022 ski season. FFE and Clariant plan to make their ski-boot color forecast an annual affair.

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