The use of 3D garment design software in the fashion industry has quickly gained a lot of hype in recent years. Earlier, what used to be considered as a tool for the gaming or engineering industry only, has expanded itself into retail & become an essential part of it. 

When used correctly, 3D design software has proved as one of the most useful tools to help brands save massive amounts of money, time, and effort. Not to mention, the pandemic has played a huge role in bringing 3D softwares to the forefront and pushing brands towards utilizing this technology. 

According to Maghan Mcdowell of Vogue Business, “Shutdowns are forcing fashion brands to consider how much of their workflow could become digital, bringing 3D design to the forefront.”

In the article, we will be focusing on how 3D design software can help fashion retailers save time and money, reduce the manual labour involved in the traditional product development method, and how it allows for effortless customization. 

3D For A Realistic Rendering Of The Product

It may sound totally counterintuitive, but, 3D garment design software actually helps you get a more realistic prototype of the product. With the traditional method, the designer never gets a complete picture of how the finished product would look unless they make a physical sample. But with 3D technology, the designer gets a complete 360-degree visual of the product, how it would look on a human body, how the fall of the fabric or even the crease would look like, all even before the product exists. On top of that, the designer can test the digital prototype with different fabric types, different colors, looks, patterns, etc., as much as they want, something almost impossible to achieve with the traditional process. 

Saajan Ahmed

(Assistant Vice President - Sales)

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The Cost Benefit Of 3D Design Software

First and foremost, 3D garment design software eliminates the need to create physical samples of things, which accounts for about 60-70% of your production cost. Imagine you’re a fashion designer and you need to create about 20 different colored samples of a skirt. 

Now, traditionally, in order to do that, you’d have to make 20 physical samples of the skirt in each of the colors, which is not only extremely fussy but also, very costly. This is where 3D technology comes in, through which, you can just create a digital prototype of the skirt and then change the colors with the click of a button as much as you want, no physical samples needed. According to a report by Optitex, about $6-8 billion are spent every year on making physical samples in the fashion industry, money that could be saved with 3D technology. 

The Time Benefit Of 3D Design Software

Another great advantage of using 3D garment design software is that it drastically reduces your product development time. When you don’t have to go through the back and forth of creating physical samples, you automatically save a lot of time. And on top of that, with 3D software, you can make any alterations or customizations directly on the digital prototype and then send the finalized design for manufacturing. 

Also, it goes without saying that 3D allows you to shorten your go-to-market time, which in turn, allows you to create more collections in a shorter period of time and maximize your revenue and growth. According to Jean-Marc Pedeboy of Stratégies, “brands have to create new collections faster nowadays, and it is impossible to go through this with traditional prototyping methods.” 

The Nike & Hugo Boss Use Case

Most major fashion brands have started using this technology for their product development process. And it all started with giants like Hugo Boss and Nike, who were the first trendsetters of 3D technology in the fashion industry. 

In the year 2017, Hugo Boss’s annual report clearly stated that – “the use of digital prototypes is shortening development times. The high degree of detail provided by 3D virtualization allows colors, contours, and the way the outer material drapes the wearer’s body to be realistically simulated. In 2017, the Company fully digitized product development for shirts, ties, and knitwear of the HUGO brand.”

In a nutshell, we can say that digitization has quickly made a deep impact on the fashion industry, and technological innovation has changed the traditional way of doing things. With the inception of solutions like 3D garment design software, product development has become a lot cheaper, easier, and efficient for fashion brands all over the world. And, it seems, major fashion houses have adopted these technologies with open arms. 

Endnote

About Flix3D

Digitalization is here, and we believe in transforming the conventional design processes with AI technology. We have introduced a line of digital solutions that are creative, efficient, and environment-friendly. Our 3D studio offers digital product design and development tools that can make the digital transition seamless for our clients.