Digital Fashion Design in 2025: What Fashion Brands Should Know
Digital Fashion Design in 2025: What Fashion Brands Should Know
Oct 8, 2025
Digital fashion design is changing how clothing moves from generating concept to reality.
Instead of relying on sketches on paper or multiple rounds of physical samples, teams can now work in connected digital spaces where ideas are faster to create, easier to refine, and ready for production earlier in the process.
For fashion brands, this shift matters because it cuts delays, reduces costly errors, and keeps teams aligned from design to production.
Adding AI into the mix makes the process more efficient and fuels innovation across styles and seasons. Teams can explore more creative possibilities while reducing repetitive work.
In this guide, you will learn what digital fashion design is, how it works compared to traditional methods, the role of AI, key workflow stages, and how a fashion AI tool like Onbrand AI Design supports the process.
What Is Digital Fashion Design?
Digital fashion design is the process of creating clothes with digital tools instead of relying on paper sketches or manual drafting. It covers everything a designer needs to turn an idea into a clear plan for production, including sketches, patterns, fabric choices, and 3D visualizations that support innovative designs.
In the fashion industry, this approach helps your team move faster while keeping accuracy high. You can model, adjust, and refine a garment on screen before committing to a physical sample or asking anyone to wear it.
Use virtual clothing previews, fabric simulations, and digital pattern updates to decide on styles with confidence. Files stay production-ready, so fewer errors appear once manufacturing starts.
Digital fashion links creativity with production in a single process. Designers can test new styles, prepare collections for launch, and share ideas easily across the fashion world, staying aligned with customer demand, market trends, and emerging technologies.
Traditional vs. Digital Fashion Design
Traditional fashion design depended on paper sketches, manual grading, and multiple physical samples. Each revision meant extra time, extra fabric, and higher costs. Communication between designers, vendors, and factories was often slowed by scattered files or unclear instructions.
Digital fashion design changes that process. Sketches, patterns, and 3D visuals live in connected software, where updates are instant and files stay accurate across teams. Samples can be reviewed virtually before fabric is cut, which saves weeks in development and reduces waste.
For every fashion company, this shift means fewer errors, faster approvals, and collections ready for production earlier in the cycle, positioning teams for the future.
The Role of AI in Digital Fashion Design
AI now supports digital fashion design and allows you to work faster without losing creativity. It handles repetitive tasks so your expertise stays focused on style and creative direction.
One of the clearest examples is sketch generation. AI fashion tools can turn a rough concept into a detailed outline within seconds and start refining right away.
Fabric recommendations are another area where AI proves useful. The tools analyze patterns and materials, then suggest options that balance look and production needs.
AI supports predictive fit by simulating how garments drape on different body types. It cuts the need for multiple physical samples, which lowers costs and speeds up development. For fashion brands, that means quicker collections that match customer demand more closely.
One platform built for this new way of working is Onbrand AI Design, created to help fashion teams design faster, reduce physical samples, and keep creative and production work connected in one place.
With Onbrand AI Design, fashion teams can apply AI directly in their workflow. The platform connects sketches, patterns, and specifications in one place, giving teams clarity and confidence from concept to production.
Experience 10x faster design turnaround, try Onbrand AI Design today!
The Stages of a Digital Fashion Workflow
A digital workflow connects every part of the design process, which makes it easier to move without delays or errors. Onbrand AI Design unifies these stages in one workspace.
Here’s how digital fashion design typically flows from concept to production, and how Onbrand AI Design supports each stage along the way:
Concept and 2D Design
The workflow begins with inspiration and early sketches. Designers capture silhouettes, trims, prints, accessories, and garment details using digital illustration tools like Adobe Illustrator. These sketches act as the blueprint for further work.
With Onbrand AI Design, teams can take this further by generating photorealistic visuals directly from descriptions or rough drafts and applying automated color palettes for quick iteration.
3D Visualization and Simulation
After sketches are complete, 2D designs move into 3D environments. Platforms such as CLO and Browzwear simulate drape, fit, and fabric behavior on avatars, supporting both production previews and virtual worlds use cases.
Designers review garments virtually before cutting fabric, which reduces the number of physical prototypes needed.
Onbrand AI Design supports this stage with responsive previews on different body types and realistic fabric simulations, helping teams test variations faster, without heavy hardware or long setup times.
Refinement and Detailing
Once the main garment shape is set, details such as textures, trims, and layered components are refined. Digital tools let designers apply colorways, adjust fit in real time, and experiment with fabric textures without restarting the process.
Onbrand AI Design offers layered editing, version rollback, and a centralized asset library, making it easier to refine garments while keeping design intent consistent.
Specs, Tech Packs, And Vendor Collaboration
Specs and measurements can be converted into detailed tech packs with no manual work. Vendors access the same files, leave comments, confirm details, and provide feedback in real time.
Through direct integration with Onbrand PLM, every asset stays linked from design through production.
Final Output and Application
The finished designs serve multiple purposes and help teams showcase styles before sampling.
They can guide manufacturing through detailed specs or be used in digital catalogs, presentations, virtual try-ons, virtual fashion shows, and virtual fitting room experiences. This gives brands value before physical garments even exist.
Onbrand AI Design includes presentation tools, mood board creation, and co-editing features that help teams shape art direction and share designs in real time.
How Digital Fashion Design Impacts Different Teams
Digital fashion design affects every type of team differently. Whether you’re running a small studio or managing a global brand, the tools adapt to your workflow and make daily work more efficient.
Small Brands
Independent labels often work with limited budgets and small teams. Digital design tools reduce the need for outsourcing every sketch or prototype.
Designers can create professional visuals in-house, which keeps costs down while moving collections forward.
Global Companies
Large fashion houses manage multiple launches each year. With digital design, teams can test fabrics, colorways, and fits virtually, so approvals move faster.
This helps seasonal collections, from tees to jeans, reach the market on schedule, even across international teams and vendors.
Product Development Teams
Technical designers depend on accuracy when preparing files for factories. Digital workflows let them build detailed specs and tech packs directly from design files.
When paired with PLM integration, revisions drop, communication improves, and factories receive production-ready assets without delays.
Onbrand AI Design: The All-In-One Workspace For Digital Fashion Teams
Onbrand AI Design moves beyond speeding up design tasks. It reshapes how entire teams manage collections.
Teams using the platform report 10x faster turnaround compared to traditional workflows, with 30–50% fewer physical samples needed during development. This speed translates into earlier approvals, smoother launches, and thousands saved in material and outsourcing costs.
The platform fits directly into modern fashion workflows where accuracy and collaboration matter most. Designers can generate photorealistic garments, apply AI-driven palettes, and test fabric simulations in one space.
With features like automated sketch creation and responsive previews, Onbrand AI Design ensures styles move from concept to production with fewer revisions and less wasted time.
Onbrand is also built for scale. Whether it’s an independent designer or a global brand, teams gain access to centralized libraries, real-time co-editing, and seamless PLM integration.
Early adopters report saving over 10 weeks each year in development time, freeing resources for creative exploration and faster market delivery.
Key Features
Generative image creation – Turn text prompts, sketches, or photos into photorealistic fashion designs.
Automated color palette generation – AI-suggested palettes inspired by trends or references.
Intelligent fabric and texture simulation – Realistic rendering of materials for accurate previews.
Automated technical sketch creation – Generate flats instantly from 3D visuals.
Asset library management – Store and reuse templates, palettes, and graphics.
Real-time co-editing – Collaborate live with designers or merchants on the same file.
Version history and rollback – Track every edit and return to earlier versions.
Mood board and inspiration tools – Collect, organize, and annotate visual references.
Automated spec sheet generation – Export detailed measurements and tech packs in seconds.
3D garment simulation – View garments on digital avatars and test responsive poses.
PLM system integration – Sync concepts and assets directly into Onbrand PLM for production.
Trusted By Growing Brands Around The World
Onbrand is already proven in the fashion industry through its PLM platform. Brands cut time, reduce errors, and keep users aligned. That same reliability now powers Onbrand AI Design, which equips designers with the tools to move faster in the creative process.
What Customers Say
Fashion brands rely on Onbrand to bring clarity and speed into their design and development process. Here’s what some of our customers have shared about their experience:
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
“With Onbrand, design and development became faster. I can easily see the journey of a style, from start to finish. Everything lives in Onbrand, it’s our North Star.”
— Antoinette Phonharath, Head of Development @ Evelyn & Bobbie
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
“We were up and running so fast, and it is saving us hours and hours a week. I never expected to be getting the benefits of the system so immediately.”
— Marjorie Schepp, Head of Product Development @ Bandier
Bring Digital Fashion Design And Production Together With Onbrand!
Digital fashion design has become a necessity for brands that want to stay competitive.
It connects creativity with production and helps teams move ideas to market with greater speed, accuracy, and collaboration. Reducing physical samples and supporting sustainable practices also makes product development smarter and more responsible.
For growing fashion businesses, adopting digital tools and embracing digital transformation is no longer optional. It’s now the path to success.
Platforms like Onbrand AI Design bring everything into one workspace. Designers gain the freedom to create while production teams stay aligned. The result is faster approvals, fewer errors, and collections that meet customer demand.
See how Onbrand helps teams manage digital design end-to-end. Get started for free or book a demo today.
FAQs About Digital Fashion Design
What is digital fashion designing?
Digital fashion designing is the process of creating garments with 2D sketches, 3D modeling, and virtual previews instead of relying only on paper or physical samples. It allows brands to build accurate designs, prepare a full clothing line, and present styles on a website or in a digital catalog before production.
How to be a digital fashion designer?
To become a digital fashion designer, you need strong design knowledge and training in digital tools like CLO 3D, Adobe Illustrator, or PLM platforms. Designers often showcase skills through an online website portfolio that highlights work across different styles, prints, and entire fashion lines.
How much do digital fashion designers make?
Salaries for digital fashion designers in the U.S. vary widely depending on experience and skill. Entry-level digital fashion designers (junior level) earn between $52,800 and $70,400, while senior-level professionals can make between $105,600 and $158,400 annually. The average salary across all experience levels in the U.S. is around $85,100 per year.
What is an example of digital fashion?
Examples of digital fashion include virtual clothing sold online, digital outfits for avatars in a digital fashion game, or garments shown in constantly evolving spaces like virtual fashion shows. These designs can be previewed on avatars or even scanned models of real people, helping brands connect with new audiences while reducing physical sampling.
Digital fashion design is changing how clothing moves from generating concept to reality.
Instead of relying on sketches on paper or multiple rounds of physical samples, teams can now work in connected digital spaces where ideas are faster to create, easier to refine, and ready for production earlier in the process.
For fashion brands, this shift matters because it cuts delays, reduces costly errors, and keeps teams aligned from design to production.
Adding AI into the mix makes the process more efficient and fuels innovation across styles and seasons. Teams can explore more creative possibilities while reducing repetitive work.
In this guide, you will learn what digital fashion design is, how it works compared to traditional methods, the role of AI, key workflow stages, and how a fashion AI tool like Onbrand AI Design supports the process.
What Is Digital Fashion Design?
Digital fashion design is the process of creating clothes with digital tools instead of relying on paper sketches or manual drafting. It covers everything a designer needs to turn an idea into a clear plan for production, including sketches, patterns, fabric choices, and 3D visualizations that support innovative designs.
In the fashion industry, this approach helps your team move faster while keeping accuracy high. You can model, adjust, and refine a garment on screen before committing to a physical sample or asking anyone to wear it.
Use virtual clothing previews, fabric simulations, and digital pattern updates to decide on styles with confidence. Files stay production-ready, so fewer errors appear once manufacturing starts.
Digital fashion links creativity with production in a single process. Designers can test new styles, prepare collections for launch, and share ideas easily across the fashion world, staying aligned with customer demand, market trends, and emerging technologies.
Traditional vs. Digital Fashion Design
Traditional fashion design depended on paper sketches, manual grading, and multiple physical samples. Each revision meant extra time, extra fabric, and higher costs. Communication between designers, vendors, and factories was often slowed by scattered files or unclear instructions.
Digital fashion design changes that process. Sketches, patterns, and 3D visuals live in connected software, where updates are instant and files stay accurate across teams. Samples can be reviewed virtually before fabric is cut, which saves weeks in development and reduces waste.
For every fashion company, this shift means fewer errors, faster approvals, and collections ready for production earlier in the cycle, positioning teams for the future.
The Role of AI in Digital Fashion Design
AI now supports digital fashion design and allows you to work faster without losing creativity. It handles repetitive tasks so your expertise stays focused on style and creative direction.
One of the clearest examples is sketch generation. AI fashion tools can turn a rough concept into a detailed outline within seconds and start refining right away.
Fabric recommendations are another area where AI proves useful. The tools analyze patterns and materials, then suggest options that balance look and production needs.
AI supports predictive fit by simulating how garments drape on different body types. It cuts the need for multiple physical samples, which lowers costs and speeds up development. For fashion brands, that means quicker collections that match customer demand more closely.
One platform built for this new way of working is Onbrand AI Design, created to help fashion teams design faster, reduce physical samples, and keep creative and production work connected in one place.
With Onbrand AI Design, fashion teams can apply AI directly in their workflow. The platform connects sketches, patterns, and specifications in one place, giving teams clarity and confidence from concept to production.
Experience 10x faster design turnaround, try Onbrand AI Design today!
The Stages of a Digital Fashion Workflow
A digital workflow connects every part of the design process, which makes it easier to move without delays or errors. Onbrand AI Design unifies these stages in one workspace.
Here’s how digital fashion design typically flows from concept to production, and how Onbrand AI Design supports each stage along the way:
Concept and 2D Design
The workflow begins with inspiration and early sketches. Designers capture silhouettes, trims, prints, accessories, and garment details using digital illustration tools like Adobe Illustrator. These sketches act as the blueprint for further work.
With Onbrand AI Design, teams can take this further by generating photorealistic visuals directly from descriptions or rough drafts and applying automated color palettes for quick iteration.
3D Visualization and Simulation
After sketches are complete, 2D designs move into 3D environments. Platforms such as CLO and Browzwear simulate drape, fit, and fabric behavior on avatars, supporting both production previews and virtual worlds use cases.
Designers review garments virtually before cutting fabric, which reduces the number of physical prototypes needed.
Onbrand AI Design supports this stage with responsive previews on different body types and realistic fabric simulations, helping teams test variations faster, without heavy hardware or long setup times.
Refinement and Detailing
Once the main garment shape is set, details such as textures, trims, and layered components are refined. Digital tools let designers apply colorways, adjust fit in real time, and experiment with fabric textures without restarting the process.
Onbrand AI Design offers layered editing, version rollback, and a centralized asset library, making it easier to refine garments while keeping design intent consistent.
Specs, Tech Packs, And Vendor Collaboration
Specs and measurements can be converted into detailed tech packs with no manual work. Vendors access the same files, leave comments, confirm details, and provide feedback in real time.
Through direct integration with Onbrand PLM, every asset stays linked from design through production.
Final Output and Application
The finished designs serve multiple purposes and help teams showcase styles before sampling.
They can guide manufacturing through detailed specs or be used in digital catalogs, presentations, virtual try-ons, virtual fashion shows, and virtual fitting room experiences. This gives brands value before physical garments even exist.
Onbrand AI Design includes presentation tools, mood board creation, and co-editing features that help teams shape art direction and share designs in real time.
How Digital Fashion Design Impacts Different Teams
Digital fashion design affects every type of team differently. Whether you’re running a small studio or managing a global brand, the tools adapt to your workflow and make daily work more efficient.
Small Brands
Independent labels often work with limited budgets and small teams. Digital design tools reduce the need for outsourcing every sketch or prototype.
Designers can create professional visuals in-house, which keeps costs down while moving collections forward.
Global Companies
Large fashion houses manage multiple launches each year. With digital design, teams can test fabrics, colorways, and fits virtually, so approvals move faster.
This helps seasonal collections, from tees to jeans, reach the market on schedule, even across international teams and vendors.
Product Development Teams
Technical designers depend on accuracy when preparing files for factories. Digital workflows let them build detailed specs and tech packs directly from design files.
When paired with PLM integration, revisions drop, communication improves, and factories receive production-ready assets without delays.
Onbrand AI Design: The All-In-One Workspace For Digital Fashion Teams
Onbrand AI Design moves beyond speeding up design tasks. It reshapes how entire teams manage collections.
Teams using the platform report 10x faster turnaround compared to traditional workflows, with 30–50% fewer physical samples needed during development. This speed translates into earlier approvals, smoother launches, and thousands saved in material and outsourcing costs.
The platform fits directly into modern fashion workflows where accuracy and collaboration matter most. Designers can generate photorealistic garments, apply AI-driven palettes, and test fabric simulations in one space.
With features like automated sketch creation and responsive previews, Onbrand AI Design ensures styles move from concept to production with fewer revisions and less wasted time.
Onbrand is also built for scale. Whether it’s an independent designer or a global brand, teams gain access to centralized libraries, real-time co-editing, and seamless PLM integration.
Early adopters report saving over 10 weeks each year in development time, freeing resources for creative exploration and faster market delivery.
Key Features
Generative image creation – Turn text prompts, sketches, or photos into photorealistic fashion designs.
Automated color palette generation – AI-suggested palettes inspired by trends or references.
Intelligent fabric and texture simulation – Realistic rendering of materials for accurate previews.
Automated technical sketch creation – Generate flats instantly from 3D visuals.
Asset library management – Store and reuse templates, palettes, and graphics.
Real-time co-editing – Collaborate live with designers or merchants on the same file.
Version history and rollback – Track every edit and return to earlier versions.
Mood board and inspiration tools – Collect, organize, and annotate visual references.
Automated spec sheet generation – Export detailed measurements and tech packs in seconds.
3D garment simulation – View garments on digital avatars and test responsive poses.
PLM system integration – Sync concepts and assets directly into Onbrand PLM for production.
Trusted By Growing Brands Around The World
Onbrand is already proven in the fashion industry through its PLM platform. Brands cut time, reduce errors, and keep users aligned. That same reliability now powers Onbrand AI Design, which equips designers with the tools to move faster in the creative process.
What Customers Say
Fashion brands rely on Onbrand to bring clarity and speed into their design and development process. Here’s what some of our customers have shared about their experience:
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
“With Onbrand, design and development became faster. I can easily see the journey of a style, from start to finish. Everything lives in Onbrand, it’s our North Star.”
— Antoinette Phonharath, Head of Development @ Evelyn & Bobbie
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
“We were up and running so fast, and it is saving us hours and hours a week. I never expected to be getting the benefits of the system so immediately.”
— Marjorie Schepp, Head of Product Development @ Bandier
Bring Digital Fashion Design And Production Together With Onbrand!
Digital fashion design has become a necessity for brands that want to stay competitive.
It connects creativity with production and helps teams move ideas to market with greater speed, accuracy, and collaboration. Reducing physical samples and supporting sustainable practices also makes product development smarter and more responsible.
For growing fashion businesses, adopting digital tools and embracing digital transformation is no longer optional. It’s now the path to success.
Platforms like Onbrand AI Design bring everything into one workspace. Designers gain the freedom to create while production teams stay aligned. The result is faster approvals, fewer errors, and collections that meet customer demand.
See how Onbrand helps teams manage digital design end-to-end. Get started for free or book a demo today.
FAQs About Digital Fashion Design
What is digital fashion designing?
Digital fashion designing is the process of creating garments with 2D sketches, 3D modeling, and virtual previews instead of relying only on paper or physical samples. It allows brands to build accurate designs, prepare a full clothing line, and present styles on a website or in a digital catalog before production.
How to be a digital fashion designer?
To become a digital fashion designer, you need strong design knowledge and training in digital tools like CLO 3D, Adobe Illustrator, or PLM platforms. Designers often showcase skills through an online website portfolio that highlights work across different styles, prints, and entire fashion lines.
How much do digital fashion designers make?
Salaries for digital fashion designers in the U.S. vary widely depending on experience and skill. Entry-level digital fashion designers (junior level) earn between $52,800 and $70,400, while senior-level professionals can make between $105,600 and $158,400 annually. The average salary across all experience levels in the U.S. is around $85,100 per year.
What is an example of digital fashion?
Examples of digital fashion include virtual clothing sold online, digital outfits for avatars in a digital fashion game, or garments shown in constantly evolving spaces like virtual fashion shows. These designs can be previewed on avatars or even scanned models of real people, helping brands connect with new audiences while reducing physical sampling.
Discover how Onbrand PLM can streamline your product development!
Discover how Onbrand PLM can streamline your product development!
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© 2024 Onbrand. All rights reserved.
