Fashion software
Specialist IT providers have
developed dedicated fashion
software applications. For example,
French company Lectra has
developed Kaledo, a Windows-
based fashion design software
package. SnapFashun in the United
States has developed a CAD system
to serve the fashion industry, which
includes an extensive library of
fashion flats and garment details
that digitally ‘snap’ together (see
page 82). Intended to assist busy
designers working in industry
or fashion students with creating and
drawing their flats, SnapFashun’s
vector graphics templates are
compatible with Adobe Illustrator.
As well as their labour-saving
capabilities, these graphics
applications and CAD solutions offer
extended opportunities for designers
to modify their ideas and working
processes. The ability to draw by
hand will always be relevant in
fashion and should be practised
and maintained. But increasingly, as
we shall see later, developments in
fashion illustration are witnessing a
synergy between hand-drawing
styles and digital enhancements.