9 of the Best Clothing Design Software Options

Do you have the right tools to bring your designs and ideas to life? Check out some of the best clothing design software options that can help you design awesome apparel. It's fun and who knows... maybe a great career in fashion design is in store for you.

A drawing of a model on table topped by drawing tools.

Fashion and textile designing is an ever-evolving industry. In fact, it won’t be wrong to say that change is the only constant thing in this industry! Every day, talented designers come up with new trends that take over the world by storm.

However, it is important to understand that a lot of effort goes into coming up with fashion masterpieces and clothing designs that have the tendency to make their appearance felt in the vast industry of fashion. For this reason, it is only natural for designers to take advantage of all the available resources. Luckily, living in a world full of technology, designers are bestowed with a number of highly effective design software options that can help them reach their full potential!

Perhaps, the best part about good clothing design software is that it can help bring out creativity by assisting the designers in multiple ways. From creating digital sketches and experimenting with different patterns and fabrics to designing an entire clothing line, clothing design software options can take care of a lot of things for you!

However, due to the number of options available in the market, it can easily become a little overwhelming to choose the best clothing design software to meet your requirements. In order to make a wise choice, it is important to know all your options.

Also, keep in mind that in many cases, it is a good idea to use more than one software solution to create exceptional fashion pieces. Scroll down to read all about some of the best fashion design software systems and pick the ones that suit you the best.

Adobe Illustrator

Adobe illustrator tool for editing.

Adobe Illustrator is the staple of the world of designing. It does not come as a surprise that it is fairly popular in the realm of fashion design as well. If you are even slightly interested in designing, you may already know that Adobe Illustrator is one of the best tools to create vector-based artwork and designs.

It allows you to create beautiful clothing designs by giving you access to a number of useful assets. You can make new shapes and patterns, include images, employ different colors and brushes, and even make smart use of freehand drawing and free form gradients options to add an X-factor to your designs.

Furthermore, it comes with a customizable toolbar that allows the designers to add and remove tools of their choice. This way you can make sure you have everything you need right on your screen!

CorelDraw

Corel draw app with a white cat on a pink background.

CorelDraw is another highly effective designing tool that has emerged as a viable option for designers in the fashion industry. The software includes a vast variety of high-quality images and offers the user a number of templates to work with.

Perhaps, the most amazing thing about CorelDraw is that it incorporates search capabilities for finding graphics. Designers can benefit from these features in a number of ways and come up with unique designs and patterns. It won’t be stretch to say that CorelDraw combines some of the most beneficial features of tools like Photoshop, Illustrators, and Indesign.

CLO 3D

Clo 3D working on a male model for fashion.

By choosing CLO 3D, designers can enjoy and intuitive interface that allows them to get rendering from 2D patterns. The most amazing thing about this software is that it allows you to make multiple iterations to the design while automatically generating the textures and colors to the new parts that you add to your design! You can even augment your clothes on a model to see what the finished product will look like and how it is expected to fit the wearer.

Marvelous Designers

Marvelous designer tool with a female model working on a fashion dress.

Marvelous Designer is another 3D designer tool that allows the designers to create virtual pieces of clothing. From simple T-shirts to complex gowns and dresses with elaborate designing, you can create anything on Marvelous Designer! The software not only allows the users to work on tiny details and even accessories but you can also work on the texture of the clothes.

Cherry on the top – Marvelous Designer is compatible with a number of other 3D software. This makes it possible for you to design on multiple platforms and easily make edits to your 3D design model whenever you like. Keep in mind that the easy to use interface of this software makes it a viable option for beginners.

Smart Designer

Smart designer working on an elegant female dress on the board.

Smart Designer is perfect for designers looking for CAD solutions for the textile and apparel industry. The software aims to shorten the entire developmental cycle for clothing lines and to help the designers quickly come up with brilliant designs. Smart Designer offers all the tools you need to bring the ideas in your head to life on your screen! Here’s a list of facilities that users can avail by choosing Smart Designer.

  • CAD tools
  • Color matching tools
  • Fabric matching tools
  • Facility to make fashion illustrations
  • Facility to export designs
  • Built-in pattern layouts, prints, and cuts
  • Color and art storage
  • Presentation tools

Pattern Smith

Pattern smith with a black dashboard, working on some patterns.

Whether you are manufacturing a huge clothing line or working on a small designing project, you can benefit from Pattern Smith when it comes to designing and developing patterns. As the name suggests, the software allows users to develop all sorts of patterns.

Whatever vision you have in mind, Pattern Smith can help you conjure it up on your screen. It comes with a number of integrated plug-ins that further simplifies the job for you! The software also offers a powerful editor mode that is customizable, allowing you to set up the workstation according to your own specific needs.

Another important feature of Pattern Smith is that it generates .nc files. This means you can export your designs to a number of cutting machines. Moreover, just like most of the highly effective but equally expensive software options for fashion and textile designing industry, Pattern Smith comes with a built-in material library.

Blue Cherry

Blue Cherry on a tablet held by a man.

Blue Cherry is CGS’s ultimate software solution for the clothing design industry. According to Southern Marsh, CEO of Blue Cherry, “CGS works with hundreds of fashion, apparel and consumer goods brands, manufacturers and retailers around the globe to drive business transformation and improve operating performance.” 

This surely makes them an expert in the field, allowing them to understand the requirements of the production process. For this reason, the team at CGS Blue Cherry has been developed as a single solution to tackle all the issues related to clothing design and production.

What makes this software stand from the crowd is the fact that it goes beyond the designing aspect of the production process. Instead, it takes care of all the core processes of production including management, planning, designing, and manufacturing.

It also keeps a track of things like inventory management, supply chain processes, distribution and delivery. Here’s a list of facilities that users can avail by choosing Blue Cherry software.

  • Integrated solutions
  • Feature-rich ERP solution
  • Management Solution for product lifecycle
  • Automated transactional processes
  • Reduced human error and associated costs
  • Real-time reports to view factory and department activities
  • B2B e-commerce tools
  • Merchandise planning tools

TUKA 3D

Tuka 3D working on a 3D model.

Measurement error is one of the most annoying things that almost every designer has to go through. Thankfully, Tukatech made the lives of designers a bit easier by developing TUKA 3D, an excellent fashion design software. The highlight of the software is that it allows the users to scan their model and adjust the measurement options.

The virtual model can walk, sit and even dance around to give you a visual of how the will like when the wearer will move. It won’t be wrong to say that TUKA 3D really takes virtual prototyping t the next level! It not only assists you in designing but also helps you virtually try out the expected end result on animated models. Furthermore, it comes with a large variety of virtual clothes samples to help the designers choose the options that suit them the best.

Another important feature of this software is that it allows the users to make engaging presentations for retailers and customers. However, the best part about this software is that despite offering complex and latest prototype strategies, TUKA 3D is easy to use.

Fusion 360

Fushion 360 on a person's laptop.

Developed by Autodesk, Fusion 360 is an amazing designing software that offers a series of advanced tools to the users. The cloud-based nature of the software allows the design team to work in a hybrid environment where members can easily collaborate via Fusion 360 and quickly create fashion masterpieces. Furthermore, the advanced tools allow you to enjoy the following facilities.

  • Iterate design ideas on sculpting tools
  • Mobile viewing
  • Use 3D printing to create prototypes
  • Data management and collaboration tools
  • Freeform modeling and sculpting

Since most 3D modeling design software has a large community, it is usually easy to find all about the software. This means you can find a large number of online tutorial and guides to help you understand and make the best use of this advanced designing software.

 

If you are a part of clothes designing industry, you must already be aware of the importance of using the right designing. It goes without saying that the right tools can help you take your designing to the level. This makes it utterly important to choose the designing tool that meets your requirements the best! So, which of these amazing software tools are you going to employ to create some of the best designs?

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