Clad Analysis Methodology
Clad structures color and contrast observations from a face photo, estimates a season and subtype, and turns that result into makeup and fashion color guidance. This page describes the current implementation and change-review process without implying an unpublished accuracy score.
Method reviewed: 2026-08-02
What determines my Clad personal color type?
The main season and subtype are estimated primarily from skin-color tendency, brightness, and facial contrast observed in the uploaded photo. Questionnaire answers add context about your own observations and the result explanation; they do not arbitrarily override the photo-based type.
Processing stages
- Validate JPEG, PNG, or WebP format and upload size.
- Check for a usable face and capture quality, then preprocess the required face region.
- Use a versioned model, prompt, and response schema to produce color observations, season, and subtype.
- Validate required fields, numeric ranges, and response shape on the server; ask for a retake or limit the result when analysis is unstable.
- Build palette, makeup, and fashion guidance from the validated type and observations.
Confidence and interpretation
Confidence is not the probability that a one-photo result is absolutely correct. It is a supporting signal for how clearly the current model separated the result for this input. Lighting, white balance, filters, color makeup, and camera processing can change the result for the same person.
Evaluation before a change
Model, prompt, preprocessing, and response-schema changes are bound into one version for comparison. Evaluation photos and labels are kept in a private dataset separate from production uploads, with direct subject identifiers designed to be one-way hashed. Candidate changes check season coverage, retake decisions, consistency, latency, and failures. Result text is automatically checked for fixed-fact preservation, prohibited claims, locale leakage, and deterministic fallbacks. Content-quality changes use a blind review process that hides release identity.
Clad does not publish a single promotional accuracy percentage until a representative, independently reviewable sample and its labeling basis can be published together.
What the analysis does not infer
- The identity of the person in the photo
- Race, health status, disease, or a skin-condition diagnosis
- Personality, ability, or social traits
- A definitive judgment that replaces an in-person drape consultation
A reproducible self-check
Take two or three front-facing photos in the same place with the same lighting and camera settings, then check whether the direction repeats. If results vary substantially or confidence is low, retake in natural light and consider an in-person drape session for an important decision.