Technically, I can finish up this blog by answering the question How important are Software Applications in Fashion & Apparel Industry in just two words which are; Duh, they are pretty important. There you are you have your answer. Thank you for reading the blog. Sayonara.
I am just kidding…!
If you think I wrote this blog just to answer that question, well, you are partially right. My focus in this blog is to educate you on different Software applications that are being used in the Fashion & Apparel industry, along with giving you an idea of how important and easy or tough it might be to learn but more importantly the importance of using software for designs of clothes and apparels. By the end of this blog, you will have a fairly good idea about all the software applications, and you can get into a fashion course well prepared. I will also let you know which are the best software applications that you can learn to enhance your skills as a Fashion Designer.
There are lots of people out there, including me who always thought that CAD itself was software. Only recently I have learned that it is a collection of various programs & processes and not software. Thanks to Wikipedia and this blog post. Wikipedia defines CAD as “Computer-aided design (CAD) is the use of computers (or workstations) to aid in the creation, modification, analysis or optimization of a design.”
Before we get into the actuality of all the software applications, as always, let us dive a little bit into how software applications benefit the fashion industry.
You can also check out our post on What is Fashion Designing & How to Become a Fashion Designer
Benefits of using Software Applications in the Fashion & Apparel Field:
Previously, I mentioned that it was hard for designers to transition from a manual designing process to a digital one. This was mostly because designers would have had to go through a learning process from scratch and learning to use computers at that time was kind of hard.
Times have changed now. Almost everyone knows how to use a computer and still, some designers prefer using pencil & paper for sketching their designs when given an option. I, as a pseudo graphic designer, can understand that Sketching the first draft on a piece of paper and then moving on to the software makes a lot more sense than directly jumping onto the software and start your designing process. I personally.
Everything in this universe and other universes is not perfect. Everything has its advantages and disadvantages. But today we will be talking mainly about the major benefits of using Software Applications in the Fashion & Apparel field. Though, at the end of this post, we will have a small look at manual designing & why it is important from my perspective.
- The room for error in the Digital Designing process is lesser and it saves a lot of time. Let me explain that in detail, consider you are working on a design in a manual process and realize that the colors you have used do not bode well. You would have to re-sketch the whole thing since you cannot erase the colors. Now, consider you were doing the same thing on a software application instead, you can just change the colors to whatever you want with just a few clicks. Software application to the rescue.
- It’s a lot easier to customize your designs & sketches when you are working on a digital designing process. You can create multiple variations of a similar design with ease and save so much time compared to that of a manual design process. The room for experimentation in a digital designing process is huge and there is no argument about it at all. You have got a weird idea you want to try out on a design of yours? Sure, go ahead, implement that weird idea. If it works out, great; if it does not, just undo it. It’s as simple as that. I sometimes wish life were as simple as undoing things.
- The next thing I wanna talk about is the choice of colors. I know this is very basic but bear with me. I have a point here. When you are sketching or painting something on paper, how many color options do you have at your disposal? More than 1000 maybe? Factor in the effort you have to go through to mix the primary colors to get the color of your choice. On the other hand, software applications have millions of colors at your disposal. You don’t have to even mix different colors, they are just there for you to choose. It just widens the horizon on a different level.
- You can adapt the same design you are working on to various materials and patterns and see what works and what’s not working. Altering your designs is quick, easier, and more accurate.
- With 3D modeling, you can actually (Well, not exactly) but at least get an understanding of how your design would look once ready. Based on that you can alter your design, and this removes any room for error as I mentioned earlier.
While there are a lot more advantages of Software applications in the field of Fashion & Apparel design, this blog would just become longer, and you will get bored. So, I have tried to compile the important ones and put them out here for you to read.
Most Used Software Applications in Apparel Field:
- Gerber Technology: Gerber Technology is software used in the Textile Manufacturing process. Gerber Technology provides a wide variety of solutions to almost every industry you can think of. Its contribution to Fashion & Apparel Industry is that it makes mass production and made-to-order production of clothes easier with its CAD suite and helps you elevate your designs with its 3D software.
- Lectra: Lectra’s software suite provides an all-over solution from Designing, Pre-Production to cutting & collection management. Lectra is also used by the Footwear industry for its designs and collections.
- Optitex: Optitex is 2D/3D CAD-CAM software whose expertise lies in providing an end-to-end solution for Fashion Designing. You can use Optitex for Pattern Designing as well as creating 3D Prototypes of your designs.
- Audaces: Audaces mainly deal with creating & designing of patterns. Audaces also excels in physical equipment for cutting, 3D Printing etc..
Best Software Applications in Fashion & Apparel Field:
As promised earlier, here is a list of the best Software Applications to use in the Fashion & Apparel field. If you want to learn this software, you can check out these best fashion designing courses in Bangalore. These courses will enhance your knowledge in Fashion Designing in a holistic manner and prepare you to become the best fashion designer you can be.
BTW, the first three are my personal favorites. They are used for a multitude of purposes. So, learning them would benefit you in a lot of ways.
- Adobe illustrator
- Adobe photoshop
- Coreldraw
- Lectra
- Optitex
- Gerber
- Richpiece
- Reach fashion studio
- Valentino
- Textile designing system
- Accumark software by Gerber
- Patternsmith
- Tailornova
- Etelestia
- Tukacad
- Wild ginger
There are various other software as well. These are just to name a few. If I have missed your favorite software, let me know in the comment below and I will update it.
Conclusion:
I can’t believe that I might have contradicted myself so many times in this post. But, in my defense, that is what happens when you try and compare two different aspects that have equal importance.
Having said everything I have said, I personally am an advocate of the Manual Designing process. Yes, I agree that the Digital Designing process and Software Applications in Designing make your life a lot easier. But it can never match the amount of knowledge and understanding you get through manual designing. The intricacies of designing something using your hand on paper are no match for anything else.
So, if you are new to fashion designing or someone who wants to become a fashion designer, I would suggest you start with the manual process, understand the nuances in it, the intricacies, details, and every other aspect of design, and then move onto the use of software applications. Read some books on Fashion Designing. This will help you refine your skills as a designer and elevate your knowledge.
Has this article convinced you to be a Fashion Designer? Indian Institute of Technology can help you out with that. Not just becoming a Fashion Designer part but getting the job part as well. IIFT has had excellent results in terms of Placements and is considered one of the best Fashion Designing colleges in Bangalore. You can check out more details about the courses we offer below.
Fashion Designing Courses offered by IIFT:
- Diploma in Fashion Design & Boutique Management
- Diploma in Fashion Communication & Journalism
- BSc in Fashion & Apparel Design
- Masters in Fashion Management
- Pattern Making & Draping (Certification Course)
- Diploma in Fashion Designing (Weekend Program)
Or you can just click on that yellow Enquire Now button on the top right corner and fill-up the form. We will help you out with the whole process.