How it works
A step-by-step walkthrough of the workflow. Every step stays attached to the Style, and each change is saved as a new Pattern Version you approve.
The workspace in motion — Styles, the Pattern library, Pattern assistance, sample review and the Tech Pack Composer.
Begin with a Style record — the single source of truth for a design. Attach sketches, reference imagery, and your design brief. The Digital Style Board keeps visual direction connected to every technical decision that follows.
Search your private Pattern and Block library using Style context, garment type, measurements and Pattern history. Every match is explained, so you can see why a Pattern was suggested. You can also import DXF files.
The Pattern Assistant helps you find a starting point — you always make the final selection.
Physical paper Patterns and Blocks enter the same library through PatternScan, captured against a PatternScan Digital Import Mat. It does not invent new Patterns; it brings the ones you already have into the digital workflow, reviewed and approved before anything is saved.
Describe the change you want — a brief, explicit measurements, or selected references. The Pattern Assistant works out what you mean and proposes exactly which pieces and measurements to change.
If the request is ambiguous — "shorten the sleeve" without specifying where, or "make it slightly looser" — the assistant asks for clarification. It never silently guesses.
The change is worked out by fixed pattern rules, so the same input always gives the same result. You see before-and-after previews, the measurements that changed in millimetres, and any issues to resolve.
See what was checked and what still needs a look. Areas not checked automatically are disclosed — never hidden. Then accept or reject — accepting saves a new Pattern Version and leaves the original untouched.
Select materials from your reusable Fabric and Trims libraries. Link Supplier sources and capture imagery and technical specifications for each material selection, building the bill of materials as you go.
Every material choice is tied to the Style, so your maker and suppliers always see the right context.
Product Costing sits on top of the materials and BOM you have already built. Bring fabric and trim costs together with labour, maker or CMT inputs, packaging, sampling, freight and duty/landed cost inputs to see unit cost and target cost.
Carry that into wholesale and retail pricing with markup and margin, and model costing scenarios or work backwards from a target price — reviewed in the workspace before anything is shared.
Create a Sample Request and attach the current Pattern Version. Record structured review findings, then issue a Review Pack — a fixed record of the sample evidence. Raise change requests against it, and carry the accepted changes into the next Pattern Version.
Iterate until the sample is approved. Nothing is issued without explicit approval.
Build the Tech Pack from the approved Style Revision, then generate production packs and issue manufacturing documents as fixed records you can trace. Prepare Maker requests, Supplier orders and Factory Releases — all tied to the approved Style and version. Sending is deliberate: a handoff is prepared and reviewed before anything is sent.
Workflows vary by studio — use only the steps you need.
Planning covers the collection, Style, milestones, dependencies and work requirements — what has to happen, and in what order. It shows what is waiting, blocked or ready across the studio.
Rostering is the people layer that extends Planning: who is available, who is scheduled, roster requests and changes, shifts and personal schedules. Together they move the work from requirement to completion.
Your originals are never modified. Each change is saved as a new Pattern Version, and you approve it before it is applied. AI can help read your brief; the design decisions stay with you.
The workflow on screen
A pattern's piece map, then the sample review that follows it.
The designroom.express workflow does not ask you to abandon your existing process. It takes what you already do — working from trusted blocks, marking up changes, validating by eye — and turns it into a searchable digital library you can trust.
Whether your blocks are on paper, in DXF files, or already digitised, you start from them. You never start from a blank canvas or a generated template.
Request access to try the full workflow with your own pattern library.
