Discover top software for budding fashion illustrators and designers, that cover every step from concepts to technical drawings
Before an eye-catching look hits the runway, it starts life as a sketch. But in the world of fashion, different sketches serve different purposes. From ideation to styling to creating detailed tech drawings for your manufacturer, drawing is a key skill to practice whether you’re focused on fashion illustration or overall fashion design.
That’s why we’re sharing 11 apps and tools that will take you from inspiration to sketching to technical art, so you can understand your garment inside-out, even as a beginner. Whether you’re working on a tablet or laptop, create stunning designs that communicate your message.
The best sites and apps for fashion design inspiration
These three classic tools are well-known throughout the industry and are an endless source of detailed inspiration that will allow you to build moodboards and begin sketching.
1. Vogue Runway Fashion Shows
Condé Nast’s classic publication arrives on your phone in an easily browsable format with Vogue Runway Fashion Shows. Find past runway shows and watch new ones via livestream, explore over 1 million images, then save your favorites to your moodboard.
Price: free and available for Apple and Android devices.
2. Pinterest
Free to use on web or mobile devices, the Pinterest app is the ultimate moodboarding tool which allows you to organize your research and find tons more simply by browsing. Content from catwalks, Instagram, and just about anywhere else can be collected here.
Price: free and available for Apple, Android, and Windows devices.
3. WGSN
To kick things up a notch, if you’re a business owner you might want to reach out to WGSN. The world’s leading lifestyle trend forecaster, their algorithms pinpoint international and local trends with great accuracy.
Price: paid subscriptions and consultancy options available.
The best apps to create initial sketches
As your idea takes shape, with a tablet and these tools at your fingertips, you can create stunning fashion illustrations filled with texture and color right away.
4. Paper by WeTransfer
For your ideas, notes, and doodles, Paper by WeTransfer is a great starting place. It’s especially good for collaging without getting confused by hundreds of layers. Your color palette and tools appear on screen with a very accessible layout, so you can focus on making art.
Price: free, available for iPhone and iPad.
5. Autodesk Sketchbook
In a similar vein to Paper, Sketchbook is a tool for quick ideation. It’s focused on sketchy and loose art (without vectors), and pays particular attention to a “realistic” feel in the pencils and pen tools. Your palettes and tools are grouped at the edges, so again you are free to draw without distraction.
Price: free and available for Apple, Android, and Windows devices.
6. Prêt-à-Template
If you’re new to illustrating fashion, you may not have (or want) your own style for drawing your croquis, which in fashion is an outline figure silhouette you can draw over. Prêt-à-Template is the answer: over 1,000 templates for all body types. Toggle templates on and off as you sketch, and even find premade clothing options to get started.
Price: free (with in-app purchases); available for Apple devices.
The best apps for polished fashion illustration
Your next step as an illustrator might be to polish or vectorize your work, to make it adaptable and usable in many formats. These tools offer expanded color and effect options.
7. Affinity Designer
Graphics software Affinity Designer is widely used by all sorts of artists, and is ideal for fashion drawings. You can even use it for the next step of the garment development process and create technical drawings.
Price: one-time price of $54.99 for desktop (Mac or Windows) and $19.99 for iPad.
8. Adobe Illustrator
Adobe Illustrator is a popular choice that also spans the entirety of the drawing process: from graphical artwork to flats and tech packs. Vector artwork is clean and eye-catching, perfect for a bold garment design.
If you’re excited to dive in, Mila Moura teaches a course on Adobe Illustrator for fashion design, where you’ll learn how to vectorize sketches and explain your designs with precision.
Price: monthly subscription of $20.99 for desktop and $9.99 for iPad (free trial available); available for Apple and Windows devices.
Recommended tools to create technical drawings (flats)
Your technical sketches, sometimes also called flats, are a flat representation of your design that explains exactly how it works. It’s one of the last stages of the drawing process, so you need a tool that produces professional results.
9. Repsketch
With thousands of templates to choose from, Repsketch is a go-to tool for getting started with flats. It’s easy to create an account and design on the web, and the tool is totally free. The creators wanted to open up vector sketching to a wider audience, using the SVG format.
Price: free and available for web-only.
10. Valentina
Named after the creator’s mother, a pattern-cutter, Valentina is an open-source piece of software for creating flat pattern designs. These are used in the actual manufacture of the product, so involve measurements and detailed labeling.
Price: free and available for Windows, Mac, and other desktop devices.
Learn to capture garments in striking fashion drawings with these online courses
- If you’re new to fashion drawing, explore world-famous Brazilian designer Ronaldo Fraga's course on fashion sketchbooking. A sketchbook is a great place to start alongside the sketching apps outlined above. Iterating and experimenting will help you to find your unique creative voice.
- Explore different media you can incorporate into creative fashion illustration by learning how to draw, paint, and add texture to intricate, stylish artworks with illustrator and designer Connie Lim.
