7TO7 chooses Crea Pattern Making CAD and 3D CAD to make outdoor product development more efficient

An Italian group dedicated to outdoor brand development

7TO7 is an Italian group founded in 2012 and based in Bosisio Parini, at the foot of the mountains near Lecco. The company develops, distributes, and manages brands dedicated to the outdoor world, combining technical expertise, commercial vision, and a strong passion for the mountains.

The group operates across several areas: proprietary brand development, physical retail, e-commerce, and private label projects. This structure allows 7TO7 to oversee the entire outdoor ecosystem, from the initial idea to the final distribution of the product.

Among the brands managed by the group are Rock Experience, Sport Hub, Sport Outlet, Spaghetti Boulder, Dotout, Runnoween, Iceport, Doc Rock, Rehall, and Sinner. This broad portfolio covers technical categories such as mountaineering, climbing, trekking, skiing, cycling, snow sports, and outdoor lifestyle.

The need: speeding up technical design for outdoor garments

In the outdoor sector, product development requires precision, control, and the ability to manage many variables: technical materials, fit, layering, performance, functional details, reinforcements, specific constructions, and consistency with each brand’s identity.

For a multi-brand company like 7TO7, complexity increases even further. Each brand has its own identity, target, and product logic. A technical jacket, a lifestyle garment, a climbing capsule, or a snowwear product do not follow the same design path.

The need was therefore to strengthen the development workflow with tools capable of improving both 2D pattern making and the three-dimensional visualization of garments, reducing manual steps, verification time, and dependence on physical prototypes.

For this reason, 7TO7 chose Crea Pattern Making CAD and 3D CAD.

The solution: Crea Pattern Making CAD

Crea Pattern Making CAD allows teams to manage the creation, modification, and size grading of apparel patterns through intuitive tools organized for the daily work of technical departments.

Create makes it possible to design new patterns, archive existing ones, and work on lines, points, notches, seams, pieces, size grading, and technical modifications. The working environment is designed to help pattern makers work with greater order, speed, and precision.

For 7TO7, this means managing outdoor garment design with greater continuity, where each pattern must meet aesthetic, functional, and production requirements. Pattern making is not just garment construction: it is the point where idea, fit, and technical feasibility must find a credible balance. Not poetry: centimetres, curves, and margins.

3D CAD: visualizing the garment before the physical prototype

Alongside Pattern Making CAD, 7TO7 uses 3D CAD to make garment verification more immediate during development.

The 2D/3D integration allows teams to work simultaneously on the pattern and on the virtual prototype, immediately visualizing the modifications made during design. This accelerates the workflow and reduces the need to rely exclusively on physical samples for verification.

For outdoor garments, 3D is particularly useful because it allows teams to evaluate proportions, fit, volumes, lengths, details, and colour combinations at an earlier stage of the process.

For a group developing multiple brands and product categories, being able to visualize the garment quickly means improving communication between design, product, and technical teams, enabling faster decisions with less ambiguity.

From 2D pattern making to virtual prototyping

The combination of Pattern Making CAD and 3D CAD allows 7TO7 to build a more integrated workflow between technical design and product visualization.

The pattern developed in 2D can be checked in a 3D environment, allowing teams to analyze the garment before creating the physical prototype. Modifications can be evaluated more quickly, reducing iterations, unnecessary samples, and approval times.

This approach makes the process more efficient because it allows teams to:

  • check proportions and fit earlier;
  • reduce the number of physical prototypes;
  • improve communication between the design office and technical department;
  • speed up internal approvals;
  • work more effectively on colour variants, materials, and details;
  • maintain greater consistency between the pattern and the final garment.

The benefits for 7TO7

By introducing Crea Pattern Making CAD and 3D CAD, 7TO7 strengthens its product development process.

The main benefits include:

  • faster and more structured pattern design;
  • greater precision in pattern making;
  • three-dimensional garment visualization during development;
  • reduced manual steps;
  • less dependence on physical prototypes in the early stages;
  • better collaboration between design, product, and technical teams;
  • more effective management of technical and outdoor garments;
  • faster control of fit, proportions, and details;
  • support for multi-brand collection development;
  • better continuity between design and garment validation.

Conclusion

7TO7’s choice confirms the value of Crea solutions for dynamic, multi-brand companies focused on technical product development.

In the outdoor world, a garment must be aesthetically consistent, functional, high-performing, and aligned with the brand’s identity. Achieving this requires tools capable of combining precise pattern making with immediate product visualization.

7TO7 chose Crea Pattern Making CAD and 3D CAD to make product development more efficient, visual, and suited to the complexity of a multi-brand outdoor ecosystem.