Fashion colors vs. Continuity colors

What is a fashion color?

“Fashion colors”, also known as “one shot colors” are colors and sometimes styles that are cut by the manufacturer once, then never again. This provides unique lace, colors and styles based on the current and upcoming fashion seasons and trends. Often these items cannot be ordered outside of the time frame they are available, this can look like: light colors in the spring, bright colors in the summer, and cooler earth tones throughout the fall and winter.

Fashion colors are not limited to just one style, for example, a brand may use the same shade of bright red across multiple styles (this being bras, underwear, etc) during a particular fashion season. Sometimes a specific bra style is rolled out in the same way (this being balcony bras, full coverage/t-shirt bras, plunge bras, push up bras, etc).   

Lets say a company rolls out a brand new plunge bra only in a light pink, this is done originally as a “one shot” to see if the item gains traction. If it sells well and retailers want more, they may cut and create more of the item, even rolling out new colors like black or a dark alternative to pink. Then, typically speaking, this bra design (the plunge) and the colors (light pink and black) become a continuity option based on the bras success. However, just like colors, styles can also be one shot and just because they are new it may not necessarily mean they become continuity.

What is a continuity color?

Above I mentioned the example plunge bra becoming a continuity option in light pink and black, so what does that mean? Put simply, continuity in the lingerie world means this color and/or style is always available to order. Sometimes within a specific line of bras, all bras may not share the same color options. Different style bras use different materials, so the same colors and lace are not available in all fabrics or colors.

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Lets say for example there is a bra company that releases the style line “Dotty”. The Dotty line comes in three different styles, a t-shirt bra, a wireless, and a cut and sewn bra.

Below is a mockup of what fashion and continuity colors in a catalog may look like for the Dotty line:

As you can see from this mockup, black and orange are the colors that can be made in every style. This means the lace, fabric, and dye needed to create each color and style is always available for the Dotty line. Whereas pink is only available in two styles, and white only in one.

As for the fashion colors, electric red will become available to ship to stores and customers in February of 2026, coming in the t-shirt bra style and the cut and sewn style. While mauve is shipping in March of 2026 and can only be created and dyed properly with the cut and sewn style. 

A final note to add to the intricacies of fashion colors versus one shot colors is that they are ordered months in advance by the retailer. So for the Spring Summer 2026 (SS26) the electric red and mauve colors would’ve been ordered as early as summer of 2025, depending on when the manufacturers released the style and fashion color.