A new type of photonic crystal structural colored fiber was prepared by assembling superparamagnetic chains on the surface of a flexible fiber in a magnetic field under photopolymerization. In this system, fixed structural colors (blue, green, and red) were generated instantaneously. The fiber with multi-stop-band can also be prepared by carefully controlling the size of the magnetic spheres in each photopolymerization procedure. This method would be fast and facile for the further study of structural color on the surface of the fiber, and the process may be used to simulate the conventional fiber coloration. process. (C) 2013 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.