A clothing sample cycle can range from $500 to $2,000. The cost to produce just one of each item, for brands with a 10-cycle a season, is over $20,000. This cost could be slashed by 80% if 3D virtual sampling is used to produce the garment. As a result, Fashion Design Services are being revolutionised.

What Does 3D Virtual Sampling Actually Do?

Virtual samples of cloth are used instead of actual cloth.

The designers will enter the fabric qualities, sizes and structures. Using such programs as CLO3D or Browzwear, a product can be designed and can be worn by an avatar. It displays all drapes, textures and fit information in real time.

Businesses evaluate it. Make a change request. Endorse it. No hard copy required.

The previously 21-42 day process is now just 3-5 days.

Why Brands Are Moving Fast on This

Containers take several days to travel. Add additional days for revisions. Four or five sample rounds in the real world may be required before production starts for a collection of forty styles.

Physical sample rounds practically disappear with services that use 3D technology for fashion design.

Brands which have digitised their product design processes can halve or even more than halve product development time, McKinsey reports. This affects the bottom line of fast fashion and middle-market brands.

How a Mid-Size Brand Cut Sampling Costs by 70%

Sample costs were approximately £18,000 per year. The average final sample signature took 11 weeks.

They partnered with a fashion design business that offered 3D virtual sampling. An amazing 85 percent of the styles in the pilot season were digitally approved. The last approval was only needed for hero items that were sampled.

Sampling costs were reduced to £5,400. The time taken to process was halved from eleven to four weeks. The design team used the remaining money to produce two extra micro-collections that year.

What Happens When You Hire Fashion Design Services from India

Designers across the globe, from the US, the UK and Europe, are increasingly outsourcing to studios in Bangalore, Mumbai and Noida.

The cost savings when Hire Fashion Design Services from India is significant. The cost of doing a 3D sample at an Indian studio is between $800 and $1,200, compared with $3,000 in the West, and of equal quality.

Time zone coverage is another benefit. Comments are sent from New York at 6 PM. The Indian team will pick up at 7:30 AM (IST) and send back new renderings by the time the next working day arrives in New York.

Where Brands Still Get It Wrong

Drapes that are created using vague fabric references are wrong. Brands cannot expect digital products to match reality if they originate fabrics that are "something like linen".

Studios that provide a successful 3D sampling process and when you Hire Fashion Design Services, it follows one simple mantra: treat digital samples just like physical samples. That is, accurate measurements, dense tech packs, and detailed building codes from the start of the design process.