Fashion Design Software & Apparel Manufacturing CAD Systems List 2021 + All About Clothing Design Software Programs + Reviews
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Trends in fashion design are always changing and so is how clothing is being designed. The one constant is each year, more and more designers are using software to design their collections. With so many uses for Fashion Design Software & Apparel Manufacturing CAD Systems today such as creating digital fashion sketches, pattern making to designing a clothing line, there a many available options for consumers. You have fashion industry staples like Adobe Illustrator and Corel Draw on to fairly new solutions like Digital Fashion Pro and Optitex. We put together this list of Fashion CAD Systems that can help you decide which solution will work for you. In many cases, using more than one software solution is also a viable option. In terms of pricing, consider one-time lifetime licenses vs. subscription based models. Consider ease of use etc. This page covers everything you need to know about clothing design software programs and how they can help you achieve your fashion goals.
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What Exactly Is Fashion Design Software?
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Fashion Design Software is a computer-aided graphic design tool for creating digital fashion sketches, garment design, textiles, fashion illustration, artwork and other elements related to the design of apparel, footwear and accessories. The main goal of fashion design software is to help designers / users create digital fashion illustrations that communicate their vision of how a design should look once rendered or manufactured in real life. Fashion Design Software produces the digital blueprint of a design.
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Who Uses Fashion Design Software?
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- Fashion Labels
- Fashion Designers
- Clothing Line Start-Ups
- Costume Designers
- Fashion Students
- Fashion Teachers / Fashion Design Classes
- Fashion Merchandisers
- Pattern Makers
- Textile Designers
- Apparel Manufacturers
- Beginners / Aspiring Fashion Designers
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According to The US Department of Labor – Bureau of Labor Statistics States: “Fashion designers use technology to design. They must be able to use computer-aided design (CAD) programs and be familiar with graphics editing software,” as one of the things necessary to be a fashion designer today.
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What Is Fashion Design And Apparel CAD Used For?
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- Creating Digital Fashion Sketches & Fashion Illustrations
- Line Sheets
- Tech Packs
- Catalogs
- Portfolios
- Designing Fashion Collections
- Digital Samples / Digital Prototypes
- Storyboards
- Mood Boards
- Lookbooks
- Technical Drawings
- Line Forecasting
- Pattern making
- Label Design & Other Branding Related Artwork
- Team Collaboration / Electronic Sharing Among Various Departments Within An Organization
- Conceptual Development / Prototype Development
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Is Using Fashion Design Software Easy? Does It Require Specialize Training?
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Whether or not a fashion design software is easy or not depends on that software. It also depends on the level of training that comes with the program or that is required to be successful with the program. The learning curve of various fashion design software will differ from vendor to vendor. If ease of use is something that is important to you then you will want to look for ones that come with free included training and free technical support. The other item as to if a fashion design program is easy depends on the purpose of use. For instance, creating digital fashion sketches is easier than creating patterns. Pattern making is a true science and many professional pattern makers had to be formally trained first in the art so that they can then utilize their training when working with pattern making software. Either way, utilizing software programs is necessary if you want to design apparel. Also see article on the Fashion Design / Manufacturing Process.
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Do Users Have To Know How to Draw to Use Fashion Design Software?
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In most cases, you do not need to know how to draw to use fashion design software. This is even more the case with programs like Digital Fashion Pro that come with customizable vector templates. Templates offer a guide / starting point that ensures you will end up with professional digital fashion sketches with clean lines. Professional digital fashion sketches are required throughout the apparel manufacturing process and are highly preferred over hand sketches. The common traits of basically every clothing design software on this list is they all work with vectors meaning drawing skills aren’t required and they all have the ability to create professional fashion sketches and apparel designs.
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2D Fashion Flats vs. 3D Garment Design
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The push for 3D is all around us. 3D Printing of apparel is fascinating. However, in presenting designs to manufacturers – 2D fashion flats is still the standard industry format. Pattern makers do not cut in 3D. They cut fabrics and patterns laying on flat surfaces. Their work primarily derives from technical flats as they use this type of design to create patterns. 3D helps in the process by giving them an enhanced idea of how the design looks from all angles but at the same time this can also be accomplished with 2D flats as well.
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Here Is A List of Fashion Industry Fashion Design Software & Apparel CAD Manufacturing Systems Plus Details On Each
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1. Digital Fashion Pro
Purpose: Professional Digital Fashion Sketching & Illustration / Helps With Starting a Fashion Brand
Features: Create Technical Sketches / Aids In Apparel Production
Features: Design Menswear, Women’s Wear, Kid’s Wear, Baby Clothing, Handbags, Shoes, Accessories
Features: Includes Hundreds of Digital Fabrics & Textile Prints
Features: Includes Training Specific to Core Functions of Designing a Clothing Line
Features: Easy-To-Use, Very User Friendly, Learn System In Matter of Hours
Features: Mogul Edition Includes How To Start a Clothing Line Course + List of Clothing Manufacturers
Includes Garment Templates & Models: Yes. Includes Hundreds of Customizable Clothing Templates + Various Model Poses
What Can You Design With It? Depending On The Edition – Includes Templates For Jeans, T-shirts, Dresses, Hoodies, Outerwear, Athletic Wear, Handbags, Suits, Swimwear & Shoes
Technical Support Cost: Free
Comes With Free Training: Yes. Video and eTraining Guide
Requires Internet To Use: No
System Requirements: Windows Or Mac
Price: Starts At $199 – One-Time Lifetime License
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2. Adobe Illustrator
Purpose: General Vector Graphics Editor
Features: Create Digital Artwork, Textile Designs, Apparel Designs
Includes Garment Templates & Models: No
What Can You Design With It? Anything But User Has To Create Everything From Scratch
Technical Support Cost: Fee
Comes With Free Training: General How To But Not Specifically related to garment design
Requires Internet To Use: Yes
Price: $20.99 Monthly Subscription
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3. Corel Draw
Purpose: General Vector Graphics Editor
Features: Create Artwork & Textiles
Includes Garment Templates & Models: No
What Can You Design With It? Anything But User Has To Create Everything From Scratch
Technical Support Cost: Fee
Comes With Free Training: General How To But Not Specifically related to garment design
System Requirements: Windows Or Mac
Price: $499 Lifetime License
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4. Optitex
Purpose: 2D & 3D Fashion Design
Features: Integratable With Adobe Illustrator
Features: Pattern Making
Includes Garment Templates & Models: Yes
Technical Support Cost: Fee
Comes With Free Training: Fee
Price: By Quote
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5. Browzwear
Purpose: 3D Fashion Design
Features: Turn a Design Into a Tech Pack
Includes Garment Templates & Models: Yes. Limited.
Technical Support Cost: Fee
Comes With Free Training: Yes
Requires Internet To Use: Yes
Price: By Quote
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6. Clo 3D
Purpose: Garment Design & Pattern Making
Features: Imports 3D Body Scans
Features: Can Be Implemented Into A Website For Virtual Fittings
Includes Garment Templates & Models: No
Fashion Design Sketches Pinterest Girls
Technical Support Cost: Free
Comes With Free Training: Yes
System Requirements: Windows Or Mac
Price: $50 /Mo Or $450 Annually
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7. C-Design
Purpose: Fashion Design & Collection Management
Features: Helps In Garment Creation Cycle
Features: Can Integrate With Adobe Illustrator and Corel Draw
Includes Garment Templates & Models: Yes
What Can You Design With It? Apparel
Technical Support Cost: Unknown
Requires Internet To Use: Yes + Windows Or For Mac Users – Need Windows + Parallels
Comes With Free Training: Unknown
Price: Subscription Based
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8. TUKA3D
Purpose: 3D Fashion Design & Garment Development Software
Features: Full Motion Simulation
Features: Fabric Simulation
Includes Garment Templates & Models: Yes
Technical Support Cost: Free
Comes With Free Training: Yes
System Requirements: Windows
Price: By Quote + Financing Options Available
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9. Lectra Kaledo
Purpose: Apparel Design
Features: Sharing Within Team
Technical Support Cost: Unknown
Comes With Free Training: Unknown
Price: Not Listed On Their Site
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10. Telestia Creator
Purpose: Design Apparel – Course Based
Features: Virtual Fitting
Includes Garment Templates & Models: Limited Amount
Technical Support Cost: Fee
Comes With Free Training: Included as this is a course
Price: Unknown
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11. PatternSmith
Purpose: Pattern Making
Features: Digitize Photos
Features: Provides Cutting Solutions
Technical Support Cost: Unknown
Comes With Free Training: Comes With User Manuals
Price: Not Listed On Site. Demo Must Be Scheduled
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12. Marvelous Designer
Purpose: Primarily used in the CG, animation, and gaming industries, create 3D clothing
Features: Makes Patterns
Features: Draping Simulations
Includes Garment Templates & Models: Includes Avatars
Technical Support Cost: Included With Subscription
Comes With Free Training: Tutorials & Manuals
System Requirements: Windows Or Mac
Price: $50 Per Month
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13. Bontex StyleOffice
Purpose: Textile And Fashion Design Software
Features: Vector and Raster Application
Features: Pattern Design & Grading
Features: Fabric simulation, colorway and 3D modeling
Includes Garment Templates & Models: Yes
Technical Support Cost: Unknown
Comes With Free Training: Yes. Online Courses
Price: Not Listed. Ask For Quote
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Article By The StartingAClothingLine.com Team – An Industry Leader In Empowering Fashion Designers & Beginners Start, Design and Manufacture Their Own Apparel Collections.
Fashion Design is an amazing and exciting field where you can let your creativity shine!
If you have an interest in fashion design, why not try out a fashion design course to see if it is something you would consider pursuing as a career?
The below list is made up of some of the best online fashion design courses in 2021 that you can learn from home, on the go, and whenever you have time.
If you’ve already decided that fashion design is your future, then any of the below courses are a great place to get inspired!
Top 11+ FREE Best Online Fashion Design Courses & Training 2021!
1. First Steps of Fashion Design: From Concept to Illustration (Skillshare)
This Skillshare course is a great place to start for aspiring fashion designers. By the end of the course, you will be able to take your fashion ideas from the concept stage to a full-fledged illustration. All up, this course takes less than an hour to work through with 10 lessons taught by fashion designers Nolan Bellavance and Ava Hama.
Nolan and Ava cover topics like establishing proportions, defining the body, representing hands and feet, faces and hair, fabric types and qualities, clothes on the body, texture, and color, and finishing the sketch.
At the end of the course, you’ll get to apply all of your new-found knowledge and design three original looks of your own. On top of that, there are also lots of student projects that have been shared on the website that will inspire you to share your own awesome sketches and designs!
As this fashion design course is hosted on Skillshare, students can try this course risk-free on their 2-month FREE trial that can be canceled at any time 😱.
- Popular course! 6,403 students
- Lots of student projects for inspiration
- Suitable for all levels
- Accessible for free with the Skillshare 2-month free trial
2. Inspiration: Where Fashion Design Begins (Skillshare)
It’s hard to fit learning a new skill into a busy schedule. But this quick 41-minute course is made up of just eight lessons and will take you hardly any time at all. This short yet dense course will teach you to find inspiration from and how to take action on your ideas.
Taught by fashion designer Daniel Vosovic, he includes a great project in which you’ll create your own fashion design mood board. This mood board will become the main focus of this course and Daniel gives you great advice on what a successful fashion mood board should look like with included examples.
Other topics covered include finding inspiration, constructing the mood board including palette, images, creating a narrative, defining your customer, and translating ideas into design.
Being hosted on Skillshare, users can take this course and dozens of others relating to fashion design for FREE on their 2-month trial.
- Suitable for all levels
- Specific focus: mood boards
- Low time commitment – less than 1 hour!
3. Fashion Design: Introduction to Hand-Drawn Technical Flats (Skillshare)
Technical flats are a crucial part of creating a design. But how the heck do you make technical flats? This course will break down the process into simple steps and help you master this important skill.
This skillshare course is meant for all levels, but geared towards those that may have a background in or are interested in pursuing fashion design. Expert fashion designer Robert Geller, trained under Marc Jacobs, is highly qualified to teach you about how to make the best technical flats for your designs.
Topics he will cover in the course include the tools and materials you will need, line weights and sketching, creating slopers for tops and pants, drawing technical flat jackets and pants, adding color to your design, and assembling the full-scale layout.
You will also learn essential techniques like how to include the top stitch and detail to illustrate the construction of the garment and how to use various shades of grey to illustrate material breakdown for the garment.
After working through the 12 video lessons and 1 hour and 19 minutes of course material, you will take on a project in which you’ll create three technical fashion flat sketches of your own!
- Great project: create 3 technical fashion flat sketches
- All levels
- Specific focus: technical flats
- Accessible for free with the Skillshare 2-month free trial
4. Pattern Making for Fashion Design – Beginner Course (Udemy)
In just 8 lessons and 46 minutes of class material, this Udemy course will teach you a ton of skills that you’ll need to know if you want to make it as a fashion designer. Grab your measuring tape and fabric markers and get ready to get creative!
Fashion design instructor, Nino Via, will teach you about all of the tools and materials that are necessary for drafting patterns (but you won’t need them to follow along with the course). He will also cover topics such as the basic principles of pattern-making and essential industry terminology.
In this course, you’ll learn how to transfer muslin draped on a dress form to dotted paper, how to use the principles of pivoting/ slash and spread to manipulate patterns, how to draft princess seams, A-line skirts, skirt yokes, and how to add fullness to the garment.
Overall a great course with an included certificate of completion!
- High 4.5-star rating
- Low time commitment – less than 1 hour
- Suitable for all levels
- Specific focus: pattern making
- Certificate included
5. Fashion Design With Soul: Create a Collection (Skillshare)
Up next on my list is one of the best online fashion design course for the people out there that have great ideas but struggle when it comes to translating them to paper. In this Skillshare course, you’ll learn how to channel that creative muse of yours in an effective way!
Instructor Schaumin Alexander, fashion designer and illustrator, asks you to look deep within yourself for your source of inspiration. In the 13 lessons in this 1-hour-long course, she will cover topics like manifesting your muse, creating a color story and mood board, and designing your own line of clothes.
In the final project, you will sketch 3-5 fashion design looks that are inspired by your own creative muse. Some of the resources that come with the course are a free geometric grid adobe illustrator mood board template and two free fashion croquis templates.
- Comes with resources: 40+ Page detailed Workbook to help as a guide throughout the class & more!
- Popular course: 1,190 students
- For all levels
6. Fashion Design: Start to Finish (CreativeLive)
This is one of the more comprehensive courses on this list and it’s the best option if you are looking for something that really takes an in-depth look at fashion design. It will require a time commitment of almost 11 hours to work through the 47 video lessons and step-by-step demos.
But this course is definitely well worth your time! It’s taught by Jay Calderon: fashion guru, professional coach, and author. AND he has been the executive director of Boston Fashion Week since 1995. He has a lifetime of industry experience to share with you.
There are so, so many topics covered in this course but to name a few, you will learn about mood boards; fashion inspiration resources; how to find a specialty and craft a collection; how to draw, draft, and sew for fashion; drawing your muse and sketching a figure including rendering colour and details.
He will also teach you about working with muslin; how to drape a basic form and experiment with style lines; how to create and true a pattern; and how to construct clothes. The course even covers fashion marketing and branding, building your business model, and fashion shows!
Strengths:
- 100% recommended by students
- Comes with awesome bonus material: mood board checklist and other checklists; body measurements chart and other charts; sewing gear guide and other guides
- Extensive course content
7. Packaging Your Fashion Brand: Developing Hangtags, Labels, and More (Skillshare)
The fashion industry is an industry in which you can’t forget about all of the little details. Details such as making an attention-catching label and a flashy tag that will tell the story of your brand in the blink of an eye!
In just 41 minutes you can work your way through 8 lessons that will teach you all about how to develop your brand, create amazing labels and more. This course is geared towards students of all levels but especially brand owners and product designers.
The topics you cover in this course will be invaluable when it comes to creating your own brand. You’ll learn about the main label, secondary labels, trims, hangtags, stickers, creative packaging, and how to tell the story of your brand through brand collateral.
The design doesn’t stop at the end of the hem! Make yourself into a well-rounded fashion designer by going the extra mile to make your brand more than just the clothes. This is the best online fashion design course for people looking to build a successful brand from the ground up! Hands down one of the best online fashion design courses!
Strengths:
- Very popular: 6,463 students
- Suitable for all levels
- Lots of positive reviews
- Specific focus: branding and labels
8. Udemy: Draping for Fashion Design: Beginner Course (Udemy)
As there are so many aspects to fashion design, it’s nice when a course narrows in on one specific topic. This Udemy course taught by Nino Via gives you a masterclass on one of the essential parts of fashion design: draping.
Fashion Design Sketches Pinterest
This course takes less than an hour to work through but you won’t believe how many topics are covered in these 8 lessons! Nino starts by explaining how you can use draping techniques to create new fashion design ideas.
He then teaches you how to manipulate and mark muslin, how to create darts, and how to draft a pattern from the marked muslin. You will learn different draping techniques for different designs such as one and two-part bodices, basic skirts, circle skirts, and basic dresses.
Once you master draping, you will be well on your way to becoming a successful fashion designer!
Strengths:
- 4.9-star rating
- Specific focus: draping
- Low time commitment – less than an hour
- Lifetime access to course materials
9. Fashion Design Inspiration: Where to Begin (CreativeLive)
This is the perfect course to take if you have a passion for fashion design but you aren’t sure where to start. In 10 informative lessons and two and a half hours of course material, you will get a great overview of what it takes to be a fashion designer.
This beginner-level course is taught by Jay Calderin, best selling author of three books on fashion design. See if fashion design lights a spark in you as Jay gives you the low down on the fashion design process. He teaches you about finding inspiration and creating mood boards that reflect your inspiration.
Then you will learn about the nuts and bolts of starting a fashion line; specializing in specific styles; and crafting a coherent collection. This is the best online fashion design course if you aspire to start your own fashion collection one day. Dream big, we all start somewhere! To learn more, you can check out my full CreativeLive review!
Strengths:
- Popular: 901 students
- Beginner level
- Great all-around course
- Reasonably priced – you can currently buy this class for less than $30!
10. Be Your Own Stylist: Feel Confident and Love your Style (Udemy)
This course looks at fashion design from a bit of a different perspective. Instructor and personal stylist, Caitlin P, invites you to discover your own personal sense of style. You will love learning about the best ways to incorporate your fashion preferences into your day to day life and design projects!
This Udemy course consists of 26 lectures and just over 1 hour of course material. And you will get access to some great resources including worksheets and shopping guides. The shopping guides cover different styles such as natural/boho, feminine/romantic, and classic.
Caitlin will teach you how to discover and feel confident in your style. She will teach you practical tips like how to create balance in your look and how to use vertical and horizontal proportions to your benefit, while also emphasizing and minimizing certain areas.
Other topics covered in the course will be how to use color; how to create outfits; how to mix and match colors or patterns; how to determine the best colors for your skin tone; and some resources you can use to find outfit inspiration.
This is easily one of the top online fashion design courses!
Strengths:
- High 4.4-star rating
- Resources: worksheets and shopping guides
- Suitable for all levels
- Lifetime access to course materials
- Course completion certificate
11. How To Do Fashion Design Research (Udemy)
Inspiration can come from within, but it’s also crucial to be able to draw on history when working with design. Over the course of 18 lectures and an hour and a half of course material, Cheryl Gregory will teach you how to carry out research for any project or design brief you are given.
You will learn how to effectively organize your research material for future reference; how to stay on track with your research goals; how to use a research planner to manage your projects; and how to get behind the scenes access to research material in museums and galleries.
Cheryl will let you in on her secret and share with you the 15 sources of research that will always deliver results. And the thing that makes this one of the best online fashion design courses is that you will learn how to become inspired when you feel stuck and can’t get your creativity flowing. Easily one the stand out fashion design courses!
Strengths:
- High 4.4-star rating
- Suitable for all levels
- Geared towards fashion designers and fashion design students
- Teaches you how to find fabric, creative, historic, and trend themes
- Resources: you will receive complimentary key learning point sheets, a research planner template, sheet as well as personal goal plans and action planner for use during and after you have completed the course.
- End of course quiz (10 questions)