3D Fashion Deep Dive 02 - The 3D Fashion Software Stack

From Illustrator to CLO, here’s the software stack every 3D artist needs to know

Alright…now we are starting to get into the weeds of 3D Fashion Design. We had the Start Here Guide to introduce people to the concepts. Next, we had our first Deep Dive Into the History of Technological Advancements of Fashion Design.

This week, we’re jumping into the tools themselves. If you’re a 3D artist entering fashion, here’s what you need to know about the software stack that drives the industry. Next week we will be talking about how these tools are used on a day-in, day-out basis. But for now…let’s dig into the tech.

The Toolkit

Illustrator

Still the foundation. Even in the 3D era, Illustrator is where most garments start. It’s where designers define silhouettes, draw tech flats, and spec out measurements, colorways, and trims. If you’re a 3D designer entering fashion, you won’t necessarily be creating in Illustrator, but you will need to understand it. That’s where logos, print designs, and patterns are coming from

Design by Ersalina Lim

Illustrator also plays a key role in cross-team collaboration. Developers, tech designers, and even merchandisers often refer back to these files because they’re rich with intent and brand guidance. When you’re pulling assets into 3D, knowing how to interpret Illustrator files can make you a more seamless partner in the pipeline.

CLO 3D

This is where 3D garment creation really happens. CLO lets you import 2D patterns, simulate fabric behavior, and stitch garments directly onto avatars. You can test drape, tweak fit, and create photoreal assets for design reviews. It’s made by the same company as Marvelous Designer, so if you’ve dabbled there, you’re halfway there.

CLO is especially powerful for designers who want to visualize how fabrics behave in motion. You can simulate weight, stretch, and layering across different sizes and body shapes. It’s also growing rapidly thanks to a robust user community and updates that make it more friendly to both freelancers and in-house teams. If you’re doing digital prototyping or pitching design variations, CLO is likely your home base.

Side Note - If you are getting into 3D Fashion Design, you gotta get used to the Winnie The Pooh shirt only look….

Browzwear (VStitcher)

Very similar to CLO in function, but it tends to show up more in enterprise environments. VStitcher emphasizes production-readiness: clean data for manufacturers, tighter integrations with PLM systems, and bulletproof pattern logic. It’s the enterprise-grade counterpart for large-scale pipelines.

It’s not quite as visually intuitive as CLO, but it shines when it comes to consistency and precision. Brands with deep supply chains or multiple internal teams often standardize on Browzwear because it helps them manage large catalogs, version control, and data integrity. If you’re aiming to work with big global brands, you’ll want to know your way around this tool.

And FYI, even though the software is technically called VStitcher, more often than not you will hear it referred to as Browzwear first.

Style3D

The new player rising fast. Style3D offers 3D garment creation like CLO and Browzwear, but also includes a connected platform for asset management, collaboration, and sourcing. It’s trying to be more than just a tool as it’s aiming to be an ecosystem.

It’s also highly modular, with an interface that some designers find more lightweight or intuitive than the others. It’s especially appealing to teams looking to modernize fast, whether that’s a small streetwear brand building their first digital pipeline or a factory trying to enable remote design previews. Keep an eye on this one.

Substance 3D (Painter & Sampler)

Once the garment’s built, you’ll want it to look great. That’s where Substance comes in. Sampler is a fast way to create new materials (leathers, denims, knits), and Painter lets you add texture detail and nuance. For 3D artists, this is home turf and fashion brands are catching on quickly.

In Painter, you can add stitching, edge wear, screenprints, or weathering to a surface in a way that’s far more nuanced than native tools in CLO or Browzwear. Sampler, on the other hand, lets you scan real fabrics or start from scratch and generate detailed, PBR-ready materials that drop into your render pipeline. Together, these tools elevate realism and push your garments closer to what consumers expect to see in marketing or e-commerce.

Houdini

While not yet a mainstay across fashion houses, Houdini is gaining traction with experimental teams and technical designers. Its procedural modeling capabilities and node-based approach give artists the ability to build dynamic garment simulations, automate stitching logic, or visualize large-scale data like trims and seams across product lines.

In fashion, Houdini can be a powerful tool for custom effects, automated shape transformations, or digital tailoring pipelines. Especially in crossover projects between fashion, gaming, or immersive experiences, it can play a unique role where creative flexibility and procedural power are needed.

VNTANA

When the file is ready to be shared—internally or with customers—it’s often too large and clunky for easy review. VNTANA helps compress and distribute optimized 3D assets for web, e-comm, and collaboration. It’s the connector that gets the garment out of your pipeline and into the world.

This is especially critical when working with cross-functional teams or external partners. You can send lightweight, browser-friendly versions of your models, complete with annotations or embedded metadata. It’s the bridge between your high-fidelity source file and the team that needs to actually use it.

Vizcom

Think of this as a generative sketch tool. Designers can sketch a concept and have Vizcom produce a refined version, sometimes with a 3D base. It’s not for final renders, but it helps iterate ideas quickly. It’s the AI brainstorming buddy for early ideation.

For teams that work fast—or across language and location barriers—Vizcom speeds up visual communication. It’s becoming especially popular in early design sprints, where rough concepts need to evolve rapidly into something tangible. And since many fashion designers aren’t trained in 3D, Vizcom acts as a translator: turning broad strokes into clean references for downstream production.

How It All Comes Together

Let’s walk through a typical flow:

1. A designer starts a sketch in Illustrator.

2. They might use Vizcom to explore style variations quickly.

3. Once a design is locked, patterns are built or cleaned up in Illustrator.

4. Those patterns are imported into CLO, Browzwear, or Style3D.

5. The garment is stitched, simulated, and fitted on a digital avatar.

6. You use Substance Painter and Sampler to texture it with real-world materials.

7. Houdini might be used for procedural adjustments or custom visuals.

8. Once it’s approved, VNTANA helps share it out across teams or platforms.

As a 3D artist, you might enter the flow somewhere around step 4 or 5, depending on the team. But having context on the whole process makes you way more valuable.

Final Thoughts

Fashion doesn’t need more modelers. It needs collaborators. People who can step into this pipeline, understand the creative and technical flow, and help make the results beautiful.

Next up: we’ll hear from people actually doing this work. I’m lining up interviews with 3D apparel designers to break down what their jobs really look like. What tools they love, where they struggled, and how they made the leap into digital fashion.

Stay tuned.

---

The 3D Artist Community

---

3D Merch is here and we have a new hoodie!

---

3D News of the Week

Blender 5.0 Released - blender.org

Meta Introduces SAM 3D - Meta.com

8th Wall Closing Down - 8thwall.com

Introducing Nano Banana Pro - Google

How To Create Fractals With Blender’s Geometry Nodes - 80.lv

---

3D Tutorial

---

---

3D Job Spreadsheet

Link to Google Doc With A TON of Jobs in Animation (not operated by me)

---

Hello! Michael Tanzillo here. I am the Head of Technical Artists with the Substance 3D team at Adobe. Previously, I was a Senior Artist on animated films at Blue Sky Studios/Disney with credits including three Ice Age movies, two Rios, Peanuts, Ferdinand, Spies in Disguise, and Epic.

In addition to his work as an artist, I am the Co-Author of the book Lighting for Animation: The Visual Art of Storytelling and the Co-Founder of The Academy of Animated Art, an online school that has helped hundreds of artists around the world begin careers in Animation, Visual Effects, and Digital Imaging. I also created The 3D Artist Community on Skool and this newsletter.

www.michaeltanzillo.com
Free 3D Tutorials on the Michael Tanzillo YouTube Channel

---

Thanks for reading The 3D Artist! Subscribe for free to receive new posts and support my work. All views and opinions are my own!