Set during the 1970’s punk rock movement, the movie Cruella is not only Disney’s live-action prequel to 101 Dalmatians, but a tour de force of fashion moments. The movie takes viewers on a visual journey as Cruella transforms from a young burgeoning fashion designer and petty thief to a revenge-seeking frontwoman, backed by a band of talented thieves and fashion-forward miscreants. From the frocks she designs throughout the movie to the characters’ wardrobes themselves, this movie undoubtedly inspired many to seek a career in fashion. 

Yet as the movie demonstrates, fashion design before the digital era consisted of a pencil and paper, a dress form, and bolts upon bolts of fabric for draping. Relying on their passion and a pencil, it was up to designers to use these rather rudimentary tools and techniques to succeed. Today, digital has found its way into most nooks and crannies throughout the world of fashion. From inspiration and design to manufacturing and marketing, digital tools have changed the scope of what an education—and career—in fashion looks like. 

So what tools and apps are at the forefront of digital fashion design today? And what digital education can someone anticipate when training for a career in fashion? 

Digital fashion design is a broad term used to describe the digital technology used to support the fashion industry. Increasingly, designers are required to possess digital know-how at every stage of their work. In this article, we’ll cover the five key stages of fashion design (inspiration, design, product development, manufacturing, and marketing) and touch upon the top apps and software that support each stage. 

The word that best encapsulates digital fashion design is precision. As with any industry, technology is greatly beneficial to narrow down guesswork in fashion. With algorithms, huge amassments of behind-the-scenes data encapsulation, and the sophistication of apps and software, the chance for error is greatly reduced. 

For instance, technology has advanced to the point that higher-end fashion designers are able to take digital measurements with such precision that traditional fittings are unnecessary. By using a body scanner to create a virtual 3D copy of a person to create digital patterns, garments are custom-designed using exact measurements. Think of the time and labor saved for something of high importance, like a wedding dress. If a bride could see her specific body shape and silhouette in the dress digitally, a huge amount of time and labor (#$$) can be saved. 3DLook, an online fashion retailer, is one example of this technology coming to life. 

“At 3DLook, we’re able to capture 86 different measurement points on the body. This allows our shoppers to peruse our collection using a customized electronic version of themselves, which cuts down the need for excess shipping and returns. This helps people buy clothes that they know will actually fit and look good, even when there's not a fitting room in sight.”

A great example of a truly immersive fashion portfolio is one that brings designs to life through 3D scans. An example of an immersive portfolio is the April 2021 collaboration between Cappasity and Victoria Andreyanova. The collection “Snow Maiden’’ was fully digitized in 3D, and Victoria Andreyanova became the first brand in Russia to present a new collection in the immersive format.

For students, technology has become integral in their education. Digital technology is used throughout the entire process, from inspiration and design all the way through manufacturing and marketing as seen here…

Which Software is Best for Fashion Design?

First, let’s identify the difference between an application (or app) and software. An app is built to perform a single function, whereas software is built to perform multiple tasks. In fashion design, the two most-used software programs are Adobe Illustrator and Photoshop. Because they are more affordable and user-friendly, many high schools across the country offer classes to teach the basics to their students.

Most of the fashion design process is done in Illustrator, from sketching to coloring and repeating pattern design to presentation boards. Illustrator is used to create a variety of digital and printed images, including charts, diagrams, graphs, logos, and illustrations. Illustrator allows a user to import a photograph and use it as a guide to trace an object in the photograph. Illustrator is so important in fashion design, that a quick search on StyleCareers.com (the largest fashion-only job listing site) details that every single job listed mentions proficiency in Illustrator as a requirement. Illustrator is also an essential tool for creating and maintaining a digital portfolio.

Photoshop is a tool for any type of image editing, from touching up photos to creating high-quality graphics. Using Photoshop, fashion designers can recolor textiles, create textile design repeats, clean scanned images, assemble CAD presentations, render sketches, and add dimensional shading. 

The growth of fashion apps is astounding. Designers have more than 4 million software options, browser extensions, phone and tablet options available. Here are a few of the top recommendations that make fashion work easier, faster, and more profitable.

WGSN is a consumer trends forecasting company. By combining trends with data science and consumer insight, the technology is able to pinpoint consumer behaviors, interests, and tastes to shape how people live, work, and play. WGSN is used by 43,000 product designers and thought leaders in 32 global markets. Companies, brands, designers, and retailers use their fashion platform for trends in consumer behavior, retail, marketing and business strategy, and in-depth analysis across 14 fashion product categories. Its forecasting is highly influential in shaping future designs.

Fashion is universally considered a form of art. A key place for inspiration for designers is other more traditional art forms. Designers use the Art Authority app as a key source of inspiration. It allows people to browse more than 100,000+ paintings and sculptures by 1,500 of the world’s leading artists from ancient times to today. This easy-access archive is an incredible visual library to inspire every designer.

Created by the world’s leading fashion publisher, Vogue Runway provides images from 12,000 fashion shows and more than 1 million runway photos all the way back to 2000—a significant, indispensable archive. It also offers unlimited access to the world’s latest collections with options to watch videos of top runway shows or view images of each collection. 

The optimum digital mood board and a hugely popular resource for designers, Pinterest allows designers to pin (e.g., collect) and save images to use as reference. Users can create their own boards full of looks that inspire them, or browse other people’s boards for inspiration. With more than 602 million boards on fashion and 21 billion fashion ideas, Pinterest is a vital tool for exploring new ideas and trends.

What Apps are Best for Fashion Illustration?

Although we already touched on the importance of Adobe Illustrator to the fashion world, there are other apps available for fashion illustration. Here are two:

There’s never enough time to draw technical sketches from scratch for every project. Apps like Repsketch allow designers to repurpose and customize existing sketches created by the community of top technical fashion designers.

Select from a variety of styles from casual tops to gowns, and modify to create a new look. 

Quickly change a neckline or sleeve style.

Download, embed, or share a public link of designs with the world in web-friendly format. 

Simply put, Pret-A-Template is a digital sketchbook. It allows designers to sketch designs on an iPhone or iPad. They offer more than 500 templates, including a wide variety of body types and specific details, like shoes. Users can select from predefined skin, hair, and makeup color pallets that complement their look.

Tech packs (or specification sheets) are blueprints of a design. They document the design, the materials, and the construction—-everything a garment needs for production. Traditionally, these spec sheets are a time-consuming task. Fashion designers despair the endless frustrations of creating flat sketches that include condensing words to fit in a format, making changes, and repeated data entry to fix errors.

Techpacker makes tech packs much faster and easier to create. The app translates tech packs into cards, so the process of creating them becomes more visual, collaborative and up to 70% faster. The advantage of cards is that designers can copy, move, reuse, and connect them. They can invite manufacturers onto the app and integrate it with other apps to make it super powerful.

A tech forward 3D software, CLO3D allows designers to visualize sketches through the use of avatars that serve as dress forms in all shapes and sizes. The app enables people to import their own patterns or draw directly in CLO. They can add fabric choices and see it all come together in 3D format, and even finetune their design in real time.

With the wealth of apps and the challenges of communicating between them, here are two options that make it easier: Zapier (designed for web) and Workflow (designed for iPhones). For instance, Zapier allows designers to connect with thousands of apps so that they can work faster and more efficiently. Workflow uses a simple drag-and-drop interface allowing designers to mix and match hundreds of actions, create quick shortcuts, manage media, and share content. There are thousands of available workflows that can be added to Dropbox automatically.

Once the garment is designed and the prototype is created, it’s time to produce it. Sourcing the right fabric and finding the right manufacturer are the next steps.‌

Finding a reputable manufacturer specific to a product category is difficult. Finding a good one is even harder. For those specifically looking for a manufacturer in the U.S., Maker's Row is useful. With roughly 3,900 apparel and accessories-related makers that are clearly sorted by categories and rating, designers are able to review in-depth factory profiles to find the perfect manufacturing partner.

Unfortunately, manufacturing in the U.S. isn’t always a viable option for up-and-coming designers. For those looking to lower manufacturing costs by looking outside the U.S., a greater number of manufacturers can be found through Global Sources, a global company with a whole host of manufacturing options from around the world. People prefer Global Sources as they put a lot of effort into listing factories that meet higher standards than their competitors.

‌Swatchon is a wholesale fabric platform based in Seoul, South Korea. It ships to 52 countries and has 100,000 fabrics to choose from online. This platform works with brands of all sizes, allowing them to place an order as small as 3 yards, or up to 500,000 yards.

‌Higg Co is a technology company that focuses on building tools that power sustainability measurement. Higg Co helps brands reduce energy use, combat audit fatigue, and safeguard those who work in the supply chain. Higg Materials Sustainability Index allows designers to create custom materials and understand their environmental impact.‌

As noted on the infographic, the last stop on the fashion journey is “Marketing,” but that requires consumers and businesses to know where they can find a specific fashion line. There are apps that make it easy to attract buyers. Here are a few:

Shopify is an ecommerce platform that allows people to set up an online store to sell merchandise. People can customize their storefront, accept credit card payments, track and respond to orders—all with a few clicks—to power more than 350,000 businesses.

"Today, digital has found its way into most nooks and crannies throughout the world of fashion. From inspiration and design to manufacturing and marketing, digital tools have changed the scope of what an education—and career—in fashion looks like."

High school students aiming for a career in fashion design, need to know these key stages of fashion design and the apps and software that support each stage.

Apps and Online Tools for Fashion Design

A bachelor’s degree in fashion design is a requirement for most mid-level design jobs. While it might seem tempting to speed up your schooling by getting a 2-year associate’s degree instead of a 4-year bachelor’s degree, you’ll likely limit your career choices by doing so. Plan to get at least a bachelor’s degree, and if you feel like you need a master’s degree to acquire the right skills and get you enough connections, plan on another 2-3 years. 

Getting a degree might seem like something to just check off your to-do list, but remember that your degree program can set you up for career success later down the road. Internships you complete as part of your major may lead to job offers, professors may become mentors as you branch out after college, and the skills you learn can set you apart from other job applicants. A bachelor’s degree in fashion design isn’t just a stepping stone to a great design job; it will qualify you for a job and teach you everything you need to know to be a good designer and a good employee.

Before you get your first job as a fashion designer, you’ll probably have to work for 2-3 years as a design assistant. This isn’t a bad thing—you’ll still get plenty of exposure to the fashion world, and you can use this time to improve your skills and make connections. You’ll probably be helping with lots of administrative tasks, preparing for fashion shows, merchandising, and, yes, designing. How much of which tasks you’re assigned depends on the company you get your first job with. But wherever you’re working and whatever tasks you’re doing, make sure that you take advantage of every opportunity presented to you. If your boss needs more helpers at a fashion show, sign up. If you can work a few extra hours each week and assist a designer one-on-one, do it. You’ll gain incredible experience and learn so much from your time as a design assistant if you do more than the bare minimum. 

Make connections. Remember that everyone you meet in the fashion industry—professors, mentors, bosses, other fashion students, you name it—could help you with your career down the road. Develop friendships wherever you can and go out of your way to connect with higher-ups in the industry; the more exposure you have to fashion professionals, the better you’ll be able to market yourself in the future. 

Get as much experience as possible. While you’re still in school, whether you’re working on your undergraduate or graduate degree, get as many internships as possible. The more hands-on experience you have in fashion, the more valuable you’ll be as a future hire. Not to mention, you’ll develop more connections the more roles and companies you connect with.

Develop design skills. This might seem obvious, but being a skilled and hard-working employee will get you promoted. If you notice a skill—be it CAD, working with merchandisers, predicting fashion trends, or planning fashion shows—that you need to work on or that would help your company, work hard to develop that skill. That will show your employers that you’re willing to put in the time to improve yourself and it will make you a more valuable employee.

Though you probably want to start your career as a fashion designer as soon as possible, keep in mind that most designers don’t get their first fashion design job right out of high school, or even college. It takes a little time to get situated in the fashion industry, and it might be several years before you get your first fashion design job. There are two things that you’ll probably need to do before landing a good design job: first, get a degree in fashion design, and second, work for a few years as a design assistant.

How Long Does it Take to Become a Fashion Designer?

Parsons School of Design, a college of the New School, has two campuses: one in New York City, the other in Paris. These two design hubs provide students with international connections and the ability to immerse themselves in both the American and French fashion worlds. Parsons offers both undergraduate and graduate degrees in fashion, all of which emphasize the importance of collaboration with different disciplines. Students can choose from a large number of minors, from foreign languages to environmental studies, all of which are designed to give students a wider world view and even more material to draw from as they exercise their creativity. Parsons alumni regularly make it onto Forbes’ 30 under 30 list, and its partners include companies like J.Crew, Vogue, and the New York Times. Parsons is a very highly regarded design school, and is ranked the best art and design school in the United States by Format, QS World University Rankings, and others.

Miami International University of Art and Design 

MIU is one of the Art Institutes, a cohort of design schools spread out across North America. Its diverse Miami location provides students with the opportunity to explore other cultures and take advantage of the resources a metropolitan campus has to offer.

Pratt is a design and communications university with a Brooklyn and Manhattan campus. Its mission is to produce creators that contribute responsibly to society, which it does by teaching students the skills, knowledge, and foundation for judgment necessary in today’s world.

CCA is a private, nonprofit college that emphasizes ‘learning through making.’ It has two California Bay Area campuses: one in Oakland, the other in San Francisco.

Also located in NYC, FIT is a public institute associated with the State University of New York. In addition to clothing-related undergraduate fashion programs, FIT has programs centered on more niche areas of the fashion industry, such as cosmetics, accessories, and exhibition design.

BS International Trade and Marketing for the Fashion Industries

BS Production Management: Fashion and Related Industries

LIM, which stands for the Laboratory Institute of Merchandising, is a fashion-specific university in Midtown Manhattan. It partners with fashion companies in NYC to give students experiential learning and internship opportunities.

Drexel’s Westphal College of Media Arts & Design is located in downtown Philadelphia, and its programs are almost entirely studio-based. Students are encouraged to participate in extracurriculars such as fashion show organization, producing for Drexel’s television station, or working on Drexel’s lifestyle magazine.

Academy of Art University is the largest private art and design university in the United States. It was founded in 1929 in San Francisco, and its hands-on curriculum is designed to lead students to jobs in their industry of choice.

Jefferson is the result of a merger between Philadelphia University and Thomas Jefferson University. Its multiple campuses are located throughout Philadelphia proper and its surrounding suburbs. Because the future of jobs and the job market is yet to be determined, Jefferson’s goal is to prepare its students for the jobs of the future, not just the jobs of today.

Cornell is an Ivy League University with its main campus located in Ithaca, New York. Its fashion-related programs combine design with science, and associated outreach programs include water quality assurance, pesticide protection, and apparel-related programs.

If you’re considering pursuing a career in fashion, it’s a good idea to start out by getting a bachelor’s degree in fashion. There are a lot of different schools that offer a variety of degrees in fashion, and it can be hard to sort through them all--especially when you’re not sure exactly what major to choose. This list, while not exhaustive, covers ten universities that offer fashion bachelor’s degrees and lists some of the different fashion-related programs offered at each.

Drawing: It’s true, initial designs are usually done by hand. You should be able to sketch both the human body and clothing items (or accessories, or shoes, etc.) in a way that will accurately represent the product you’re designing. Often hand-drawn designs take on a stylized aesthetic—the model in a drawing might not be perfectly proportional, for example, and have super long limbs—but a fashion designer should make these stylistic decisions consciously, not because he or she isn’t able to draw the human figure accurately. 

Adobe Suite: As is the case with most industries today, the fashion world is going digital. Most fashion design jobs today require that applicants have experience with Adobe Suite. A fashion designer might initially sketch out a design by hand, but any type of technical illustration is generally done in Adobe Illustrator. Being proficient in Adobe Photoshop and InDesign is also a must for fashion designers, since, depending on the size of the company, they may have a hand in photoshoots or layout design in a magazine or ad. 

Teamwork: Because you’ll likely be working on a design team with several other designers, you’ll have ample opportunity to interact with other people as a fashion designer. Working on designs together requires patience and flexibility, along with good communication skills and willingness to listen to others’ ideas even when you might not completely agree. 

Presenting/Public Speaking: You should be comfortable presenting in front of a group. Fashion designers need to be able to sell their ideas to the rest of the design team, the company’s creative director, the sales team, and other groups in the company in order for their designs to be approved for production.

Garment Construction: Though fashion companies generally have an entire team devoted to clothing construction, you should still have a solid grasp on how clothing is created. This will allow you to design clothes reasonable from a construction standpoint, design with the proper fabrics in mind, and create design prototypes.  

Understand Trends: Fashion design is more than designing what you think looks good; it’s about designing what the market wants. Understanding fashion trends and being able to forecast future trends will allow you to create designs that customers will buy. 

Microsoft Office: Being able to use PowerPoint and Excel is a requirement for most design jobs in the fashion industry. PowerPoint will help you present your designs effectively, and Excel will help you create a tech pack, which is a document designers create to communicate specs and other information to product manufacturers.

Knowledge of Color and Print: Selecting on-trend colors and prints for a collection can make or break the success of a fashion designer’s designs. You can forecast what colors will be in-style for a certain product and select coordinating colors for your collection accordingly.

When you think of a fashion designer, you might think of a chic black-clad professional who sketches all day. But in reality, a fashion designer’s job is a lot more dynamic than that, and they need a lot more skills than just illustration. If you’re considering becoming a fashion designer, here are some of the skills you should start developing:

Fashion-career

Apps and Online Tools for Fashion Design

How Long Does it Take to Become a Fashion Designer?

Where Can I Study Fashion?

What Skills Do Fashion Designers Need?