Top 16 Open-Source and Free Fashion Design Software for Beginners

Last Updated: February 5, 2025

Fashion is a form of self-expression that reflects a period through clothing, footwear, hairstyles, makeup, accessories, and whatnot. Professionals in the industry are thus expected to constantly adapt to the evolving times and their needs.

As a one-stop solution to help designers achieve that, technology in the form of fashion design software has stepped up to their aid. By digitalizing the design process, these modern-day cloth designing software solutions have made paper designs a thing of the past. This is all thanks to the vast gallery of 3D design functionalities and templates they come equipped with.

However, to find the best fashion design software for your needs isn’t easy, given the variety of such software available in the market. Read on as we simplify the selection process for you with our well-researched list of top open source cloth designing software.

List of 16 Best Open Source Fashion Design Software for Beginners

Some of the best open source fashion design software are listed below for your convenience. However, before you delve into the list, please know that these solutions aren’t sorted in the order of importance, value, or worth. Any implication of that sort, if drawn, is coincidental and erroneous.

  • Blender: Best for fashion design studios
  • Tailornova: Best online cloth designing software
  • Browzwear: Best for creative developers in fashion designing
  • SnapFashun: Best fashion design software for startups & SMEs
  • Edraw Max: Best for diagramming and graphics
  • Cameo v5: Best for apparel business owners
  • DesignHill: Best for online customized t-shirt designing
  • WSGN: Best for staying updated with fashion design trends

Valentina: Best for Beginners

An open-source pattern designing software, Valentina was launched in 2013 by Roman Telezhinsky (Ukraine) and Susan Spencer (USA).

Popular among designers, cutters, individual tailors, and other players in the garment industry, the software offers a wide range of pattern collections. These pattern designs, when combined with modern technologies, help optimize the design process for end-users.

Key Features of Valentina: 

  • 50+ pattern-making options
  • Patterns are all based on a mathematical formula
  • Instruction-based drawing tools
  • Simple to download, test, and create patterns
  • Automates rebuilding of patterns
  • Smart design templates
  • Easy synchronization
  • Robust support forum

Valentina Supported Platforms: There are download options for Windows, Mac OS, FreeBSD, Mageia 6+ (.rpm), Fedora (.rpm), OpenSUSE (.rpm), Debian (.deb), Ubuntu PPA (.deb), AppImage package (.AppImage) etc.  

Valentina Pricing & Plans: NA; it is a free software. 

Blender: Best for Fashion Design Studios

Blender fashion design tool is an innovative 3D modelling software that helps fashion design studios as well as individuals create, sculpt, and edit models easily. An open-source software, it helps designers create realistic 3D objects through its advanced 3D engine. One can also integrate it with multiple pipeline tools. 

Released in 1994, Blender thus continues to be one of the best open-source fashion design software for beginners in the market.  

Key Features of Blender: 

  • Multiple modes, such as Object Mode, Edit Mode, Weight Paint and more, offered
  • Supports the complete 3D pipeline – simulation, rendering, rigging, compositing, modelling, motion tracking, and video editing
  • Animation (2D)
  • Conformal & angle-based unwrapping

Blender Supported Platforms: Blender runs on Linux, macOS, Windows, Android, FreeBSD, OpenBSD, NetBSD, DragonFly BSD, and Haiku. 

Blender Pricing & Plans: NA; it is a free software. 

Tailornova: Best Online Clothing Design Software

Whether you are a fashion design student or a beginner in the industry looking to make a name for yourself, Tailornova 3D fashion design software is perfect for you. Using it, you can create unlimited designs quickly and easily. 

The platform also automates the generation of MTM patterns and cut sheets. Its 3D simulation facility and fit customization further make it easy for you to modify your designs as you like. 

Key Features of Tailornova: 

  • Easy adjustment
  • Sewing instructions
  • Intermixable templates in 10 different lengths
  • Automated pattern measurements
  • Pre-determined ease settings
  • Vector 2D flat sketches
  • Custom-fit pattern
  • 3D Fit Model to replicate different body shapes
  • Garment simulation
  • PDF patterns and print-outs
  • Ecommerce integration

Supported Platforms: Tailornova is web-based software and can run on any device with an internet connection. 

Tailornova Pricing & Plans: 

Plan Price
Free $0
Personal $29/month
Commercial $49/year
Enterprise Get in touch with the Techjockey product team to get a quote

Browzwear: Best for Creative Developers in Fashion Designing

Browzwear 3D fashion design software is a boon for designers, creative developers, marketers, and production teams. It helps minimize design iteration, thus reducing the cost of designing. As a result, it is preferred by renowned brands such as Adidas, Puma, Nike, Tommy Hilfiger, and Ralph Lauren. 

Key Features of Browzwear: 

  • Realistic 3D images
  • 2D CAD
  • Flexible and powerful dashboard
  • Fabric analyzer (automatic)
  • True-to-life 3D simulation
  • Advanced consulting & integrated service for automated workflows
  • New styles and designs with Lotta
  • VStitcher for designs
  • Collaborate and merchandize with Stylezone
  • Smart design option to design for manufacturing

Browzwear Supported Platforms: Browzwear works on Mac and Windows. 

Browzwear Pricing & Plans: Browzwear has an open platform. VNTANA and Browzwear’s 3D Collaboration Platform is also free for freelance designers. To know about the paid plan, however, please get in touch with the Techjockey team.  

CLO 3D Software: Best Garment Design Software

CLO 3D fashion design software has a robust simulation engine that allows designers to create detailed designs with countless layers. It also offers avatars and dress forms of various shapes and sizes. 

Using its internal renderer, one can create high-quality and realistic designs with intricate details. It also supports multiple languages, including Hindi, French, Spanish, Russian, Chinese and more. 

Key Features of CLO 3D: 

  • Modular design
  • 3D garment edits
  • 3D arrangement
  • 3D simulation and layer
  • Fabric kit
  • Segment sewing
  • Auto grading
  • 2D pattern design
  • Facility to merge patterns
  • Facility to add hardware items like buttons and zipper
  • Fabric fine-tuner
  • View, measure, arrange, and edit avatar style
  • Create unlimited graphic placements
  • Unlimited colour ways
  • Engineered print layouts
  • Easy collaboration via closet
  • Compatible with file formats like DXF-ASTM/AAMA, AI/PDF, BOM (XML) and more

CLO 3D Supported Platforms: CLO 3D software runs on both Windows (64-bit) and Mac systems.  

CLO 3D Software Pricing & Plans: It offers a 30-day free trial. The paid plans cost as follows: 

Plan Price
Student $25/month
Individual $50/month
Enterprise Get in touch with the Techjockey product team to get a quote
Academic Get in touch with the Techjockey product team to get a quote

Digital Fashion Pro: Best Fashion Design Software for Beginners

Digital Fashion Pro allows users to design and customize digital fabrics and clothing templates to create professional-looking design sketches. It has a super easy interface, making it fit for both amateurs and design students alike. The tool also offers interactive modules to train freshers in fashion design and manufacturing.  

Available in 75+ countries, it is associated with big names like Calvin Klein, Bill Blass, Ralph Lauren, Ed Hardy and more.  

Key Features of Digital Fashion Pro: 

  • Customizable clothing templates
  • 3D design mode
  • 3D design and styling
  • Vector artwork
  • CAD tools
  • Sketch render
  • Design export
  • Fashion illustrations
  • Textile pattern design

Digital Fashion Pro Supported Platforms: It works with Mac, Windows, and Chromebooks.  

Digital Fashion Pro Pricing & Plans: 

Plan Price
Basic Edition $399
Industry Edition $500
Fashion Mogul $750
Style Blast $1250
Revolution X Edition $1500

Adobe Illustrator: Best for Fashion Illustrations

If you are looking for a software that can help you with fashion illustrations, Adobe Illustrator is your best bet! Its easy-to-navigate user interface and vast range of design templates allow even an amateur to get hands-on experience in designing fashionwear. 

Using it, one can draw flat or functional sketches, add colors, repeat pattern designs, and more with ease. Its presentation boards also offer great layouts for design meetings, buyer presentations, and catalogues. 

Key Features of Adobe Illustrator: 

  • Add fashion illustrations
  • Move, rotate, and scale pattern fills
  • Zig-zag brush
  • Clipping masks for graphic placement
  • Textile design
  • Flat factory
  • Customizable pattern size, colours, and direction
  • Colourways and line sheets
  • Graphic/artistic design

Adobe Illustrator Supported Platforms: Adobe Illustrator works on macOS, iOS for iPads, and Windows. 

Adobe Illustrator Pricing & Plans: It offers a 7-day free trial. The paid plan, on the other hand, would cost you $22.99 per month.  

SnapFashun: Best Fashion Design Software for Startups and SMEs

SnapFashun offers a vast library of free design templates and sketches to create unique custom designs, making it a one-stop shop for all your fashion design needs. 

Its user-friendly interface, easy editing and rendering, drag-and-drop functionality, and a simple design dashboard make it fit for design studios as well as individual creators. It is also a great tool for educators in both physical and remote classrooms. 

Key Features of SnapFashun: 

  • Preview larger thumbnail images
  • Interactive preset snap libraries
  • Multiple fashion categories
  • Easy to store and retrieve sketches
  • Drag and drop facility
  • Easy to search and sort sketches
  • Simple dashboard
  • Free templates and sketchbooks
  • Syncs with Adobe Illustrator CC

SnapFashun Supported Platforms: SnapFashun works with Windows and Android operating systems.  

SnapFashun Pricing & Plans: It offers a free trial. To know about its paid plans, get in touch with the Techjockey product team.   

Edraw Max: Best for Diagramming and Graphics

If your design team needs a software to create samples and design patterns, go for Edraw Max. Used by both professional and amateur designers, it helps create fashionwear sketches upon existing models and further customize the design to see how the final product would look like. 

The platform also supports multiple languages, including English, Korean, Japanese, French, Spanish and more. 

Key Features of Edraw Max: 

  • High-quality outputs
  • Sample cloth clipart
  • Excellent file compatibility
  • Pre-drawn models
  • Drag and drop feature
  • Vector-based designs
  • Predefined themes and colours
  • Huge collection of templates and styles

Edraw Max Supported Platforms: Edraw supports Windows, Mac, Linux, and Web platforms.  

Edraw Max Price to Upgrade: It offers a 7-day free trial. The cost for paid plans is as follows: 

Plan Price
Individuals Starts at $99/year
Teams Starts at $119 per user per year
Business Get in touch with the Techjockey product team to get a quote

Cameo v5 Apparel Software: Best for Apparel Business Owners

Cameo v5 Apparel Software is used to draft and edit grade patterns and create stylish fashion designs. It also offers technical drawing tools and lay markers to create stylish dresses and other clothing items. To top it all, the software also helps designers make brochures and portfolios. 

Key Features of Cameo v5 Apparel Software: 

  • Technical drawings and specification sheets
  • PDF, RTF and standard HTML reporting
  • Market layout for calculating yardage

Cameo v5 Apparel Software Supported Platforms: Cameo v5 clothing design software runs on Windows XP, 7, 8 and 10. 

Cameo v5 Apparel Software Pricing & Plans: Cameo v5 version is a free apparel software. To know Cameo v6 version’s price, get in touch with the Techjockey product team. 

Designer Pro Apparel Edition: Best for Free 3D Clothing Design Online

A dedicated clothing design app for MacOS, Designer Pro Apparel Edition is widely preferred for creating 3D design models. With support for plotters and SVG file export functionality, the software is best used during pre-production and customer acquisition. 

It also provides dimensional viewing for design previews. One can create a 3D preview and demo of their product to see how it would look in real life. 

Key Features of Designer Pro Apparel Edition: 

  • Suites for making patterns
  • 3D product designing
  • Easy navigation and interface
  • Categories for different dress lines and multiple wardrobes

Designer Pro Apparel Edition Supported Platforms: Mac 

Designer Pro Pricing & Plans: Designer Pro Apparel Edition offers a free trial. For information about the paid plans, get in touch with the Techjockey product team.  

Digital Fashion Pro 9: Best free clothing design software

Digital Fashion Pro 9 offers a complete fashion design start-up toolkit for people looking to start their own fashion brand. It has tools to create detailed fashion sketches which can compete with professional designs anytime, anywhere. 

Using it, one can also access the vast clothing templates and customize them as per their liking. For the said reasons and more, the software is widely used by beginners, students, and design institutes alike. 

Key Features of Digital Fashion Pro 9: 

  • Photorealistic DFP sketches
  • Option to incorporate logos, labels, and artwork into your designs
  • Simulation of screen printing, ripping, and abrasions
  • Customizable model poses for styling

Digital Fashion Pro 9 Supported Platforms: Windows, Mac OS, Linux, and Chromebook. 

Digital Fashion Pro 9 Pricing & Plans: Get in touch with the Techjockey product team to get a quote.  

Designhill: Best for Online Customized T-shirt Designing

Designhill is a fashion design software that helps you create quirky online t-shirt designs. Designhill’s t-shirt maker tool, PrintShop, in fact, is a perfect match for freelance designers who are looking to give their design ideas an expression. 

The software is easy to use; all you need to do is pick your t-shirt type and style, select the colour and size, upload your design, and select where to put the design on the t-shirt. In the next step, the software will calculate the price for you. Once you enter the shipping details and make the payment, you will get your custom-designed t-shirt in no time. 

Key Features of Designhill: 

  • Worldwide shipping
  • Apparel for women, men, and kids
  • Secure payment methods
  • No minimum order quantity
  • Extension edit panel for customization

Designhill Supported Platforms: It is a web-based platform, so it is compatible with Windows and MacOS operating systems. 

Designhill Pricing & Plans:  

Plan Price
Fastrack Starts at $249
Standard Starts at $399
Executive Starts at $699
Premium Starts at $999

Virtual Fashion Basic 1.0: Best 3D Garment Design Software

An easy-to-use fashion design software, Virtual Fashion Basic 1.0 is programmed to help you visualize unique styles and looks. Users can create stunning and realistic 3D garments using this software. 

The software is also perfect for experimenting with colors and creating three-dimensional garments using different textures, fabrics, and true-to-life models. With its industry-leading cloth simulator, it also allows users to cut costs and shorten the design development time.  

It also offers support for draping simulation to ensure that the garment always hangs in the desired way. 

Key Features of Virtual Fashion Basic 1.0: 

  • Reset simulation and progress bar
  • Cloud collaboration
  • 3D virtual simulations
  • Patternmaker and brand manager

Virtual Fashion Basic 1.0 Supported Platforms: Windows, Windows 2000/XP 

Virtual Fashion Basic 1.0 Pricing & Plans: NA; it is a free software. 

Dedicated to forecasting fashion trends, WGSN is a global platform for consumer and design trends. With more than 440+ in-house experts and analysis of fashion trends across 128 countries, the platform monitors how consumers think, feel, and behave. This can help designers alter their strategy to stay ahead of the competition. 

With the help of these trends, designers can also select the fabric, color, and design type that would be hot selling in the coming time. The software also offers trend forecasts across 15 major product categories, including footwear and accessories. 

Key Features of WGSN: 

  • Royalty-free prints, graphics and CAD designs
  • 250+ new reports and strategy guides
  • Buyer’s guides
  • City guides
  • The feed for trends
  • Early concepts for colour, material and style
  • Commercial collections for retail drops
  • Build colour palettes
  • Image library

WGSN Supported Platforms: WSGN is web-based, so it supports operating systems like Windows, macOS, and Linux.  
WGSN Pricing & Plans: Get in touch with the Techjockey product team to get a quote. 

Vogue Runway: Best for Fashion Shows

If you are into fashion designing, Vogue Runway is your best shot. This fashion design software is perfect for designers looking to get inspired and seek design ideas to create unique fashion collections. It offers uninterrupted access to the entire range of Vogue fashion, including their latest collections. 

One also gets access to clips that showcase catwalks, close-ups of collections with intricate details, front-row sightings and more. Their archive collection, in fact, boasts more than a million runway images from over 12,000 fashion shows. 

Key Features of Vogue Runway: 

  • Archive of fashion shows and catwalk photos
  • Adds looks and collections to mood boards
  • Livestreams for front row experience
  • Thousands of street style photos
  • Enables runway alerts
  • Helps share looks and collections via email, SMS, and other social media platforms
  • Reviews by internationally recognized writers

Vogue Runway Supported Platforms: Vogue Runway is accessible on platforms like Windows, macOS, and Linux. It also has its own clothing design app for iOS and Android users.  

Vogue Runway Pricing & Plans: Vogue Runway clothing design app is available for free download on Google Play or the Apple store.  

Key Features You are Likely to Get with Free Fashion Design Software

Fashion design software includes a plethora of features that help designers fast-track the design process. These features give complete freedom to the designers to be creative at every step. Some of them are listed below for your understanding… 

  • Pattern grading
  • Pattern, colour, and art storage
  • Drag and drop facility for sketches
  • Wide range of fabric colour and pattern
  • Fabric matching
  • Fashion illustration
  • Smart design templates
  • Apparel tools
  • Material development
  • Design export option
  • Pre-production
  • 2D & 3D sketching
  • Visualization

Benefits of Using Free Clothing Design Software

Technology is crucial to the evolution of fashion designing. In this digital world, in fact, no profession has been left untouched by technology, and rightly so. Here’s how digitalization has helped the domain of fashion designing in particular…. 

  • Automation to minimize repetitive tasks like resizing designs, adding watermarks and more
  • Millions of choices of colours, patterns, and more
  • Ready-to-use templates for creative designs
  • Easy to test/compare different looks and fabrics
  • Easy to meet changing preferences via modifications and less waste of fabric
  • No wear and tear like on paper
  • Save designs and keep multiple copies
  • Control digital workflows in real-time
  • Realistic rendering of how garments and other items look on human body
  • Easy merchandising
  • Quick sharing with multiple people and teams

How to Design Clothes Digitally Using Fashion Design Software?

There are many innovative clothing design apps and sophisticated fashion design tools available in the market. So, if you’re a budding fashionista or even an experienced designer looking to explore new horizons in the world of clothing, here’s how you can leverage these tools to achieve the same… 

  • Get Started with Digital Clothing Design: Before diving into the creative process, it’s essential to equip yourself with the right tools. Begin by selecting a reliable clothing design app or software that aligns with your skills and goals. Tools like Adobe Illustrator, Valentina, and CLO 3D offer a wide range of features suitable for various design needs.
  • Exploring Your Design Ideas: You can use your preferred clothing design software to sketch, experiment with colors, and refine your concepts. To bring your ideas to life, use the software to design and visualize clothing in 2D and 3D. This is where the magic happens, as you get to craft every detail of your cloth with precision and finesse.
  • Adding Realism with 3D Modelling: One of the standout features of advanced CAD fashion design software is its ability to create realistic 3D models of your clothing designs. This feature allows you to see how your creations would appear when worn by a model, with accurate fabric draping and movement. It’s a game-changer for designers trying to bring their designs to life.
  • Fine-Tuning and Iteration: Designing clothes digitally provides the advantage of easy iteration. Tweak, adjust, and refine your designs until they meet your vision. With the help of fashion design tools, you can experiment with different fabrics, textures, and patterns to achieve perfection.
  • Bringing Your Designs to Reality: Once you’ve refined your digital design, it’s time to take the next steps toward bringing your creation to life. Use your digital designs as blueprints for crafting physical garments or explore opportunities to turn them into wearable art through digital printing or other innovative methods.

Conclusion

Cloth designing has unarguably never been this exciting and accessible before. With a plethora of fashion design tools and clothing design apps at your disposal today, you can unleash your creativity and create stunning clothing designs at the speed of light.  

So, what are you waiting for? Pick one of the fashion design software mentioned above and get cracking!

Questions Related to Free Fashion Design Software

  1. Which software is best for fashion design?

    Adobe Illustrator, Browzwear, and CLO 3D are some of the best tools for fashion designing.

  2. What is the best free software to design clothes?

    Valentina is the best free software to design clothes, as it offers designers the flexibility to create unique design patterns efficiently.

  3. What are the best free fashion design software for marketing?

    Browzwear is a great 3D fashion design software for marketing. It helps designers work with the marketing team and other people in the chain, resulting in faster time to market.

  4. What are the best free fashion design software for manufacturing?

    Blender, CLO 3D, and EdrawMax are great fashion design software to ensure a smooth manufacturing process.

  5. What is the best app for designing clothes?

    Vogue Runway, Adobe Illustrator, CLO 3D, and WGSN are perfect clothing design apps for fashion designers looking to design clothes.

  6. What are the popular 3D cloth designing software?

    CLO 3D software, Browzwear, and Tailornova help designers render a 3D version of their clothes in the easiest way possible.

  7. Which are the best online apps for fashion designing software?

    Valentina, Blender, and Adobe Illustrator are the most popular and tech-savvy online clothing design apps.

  8. What software do fashion designers use to sketch?

    Adobe Illustrator is one of the majorly used tools for sketching.

Related Categories: Designing Solutions | Graphic Design Software | 3D Design Software

Published On: July 9, 2021
Yashika Aneja

Yashika Aneja is a Senior Content Writer at Techjockey, with over 5 years of experience in content creation and management. From writing about normal everyday affairs to profound fact-based stories on wide-ranging themes, including environment, technology, education, politics, social media, travel, lifestyle so on and so forth, she has, as part of her professional journey so far, shown acute proficiency in almost all sorts of genres/formats/styles of writing. With perpetual curiosity and enthusiasm to delve into the new and the uncharted, she is thusly always at the top of her lexical game, one priceless word at a time.

Share
Published by
Yashika Aneja

Recent Posts

How to Ensure Payroll Compliance and Avoid Errors with Unbox Payroll?

Payroll mistakes can sink businesses beyond financial loss. Penalties for missing deadlines, misclassification, tax issues,… Read More

February 13, 2025

How to Implement Omnichannel Engagement with Swiftsell – Why It Matters?

Customers of today don't have time for companies or brands that can't keep up with… Read More

February 12, 2025

How the M2 Trading System Transformed Trader’s Approach to the Market?

The trading world is a wild ride full of sharp turns and twists! Every trader… Read More

February 12, 2025

How To Implement Incentive Management Strategies with PeopleChamp?

Success starts with motivation! Smart businesses understand this well. People (or working professionals) tend to… Read More

February 12, 2025

How DeepSeek Caused the Biggest Dip in the Chip Stocks and GPU Market?

The AI revolution is upon us, and it is fuelling surge in demand for… Read More

February 10, 2025

Agentic AI: The Future of Autonomous Intelligence

A clamorous revolution powered by Artificial Intelligence (AI) has been restructuring the way the human… Read More

February 7, 2025