What Is a Line Sheet in Fashion? The Page Buyers Order From.
A line sheet is the document wholesale buyers use to place orders. Here is what goes on one, how to build it step by step, and how to keep prices and colours accurate.
A line sheet is a sales document that shows a brand's products for a season to wholesale buyers, with an image, style number, colours, sizes, wholesale price and suggested retail price for each item. Buyers at stores, distributors and online retailers use it to choose what to order. Think of it as a catalogue built for placing orders, not for inspiration.
When a line sheet carries old prices or dropped colours, buyers order the wrong things, so the season starts with corrections and awkward calls.
Key takeaways
- A line sheet is a wholesale ordering tool. A lookbook is for mood and inspiration.
- Each product needs an image, style name and number, colourways, sizes, composition, wholesale price, suggested retail price and delivery window.
- Order terms, such as minimums and payment terms, go on the cover or the last page.
- The line sheet comes at the end of development, so its data comes from the tech pack, BOM and costing.
- Most line sheet errors come from retyping product data that has since changed.
Made for buyers. Used inside the brand too.
The brand's sales team, sales agents and showrooms send line sheets to buyers before or after market weeks and trade shows. Buyers at boutiques, department stores, distributors and online retailers use them to plan their orders, often next to the physical salesman samples.
Line sheets are also used inside the brand. Merchandisers check the final range against the plan, and customer service uses them to answer questions about styles and prices.
One cover. One block per product. One page of terms.
Start with a cover page: brand name, season, contact details for the sales team, and the delivery windows for the season.
Then, for each product:
- Product image. A clean flat sketch or a photo on a plain background, the same style for every product.
- Style name and number. The number should match the one used on purchase orders and invoices.
- Colourways. Every colour version available, with a swatch or colour name.
- Size range. For example XS to XL, or the shoe sizes offered.
- Fabric and composition. Main material and fibre content.
- Wholesale price. What the retailer pays, in the buyer's currency where possible.
- Suggested retail price. What the retailer is expected to sell it for.
- Minimum order quantity. Per style, per colour or per pack, if you set one.
- Delivery window. When the product ships.
Finish with an order terms page: payment terms, minimum order value, how to place an order, shipping terms and the returns policy.
Six things sales teams tell us. And where they really start.
A cost went up and the price changed, but the line sheet did not, because it was a separate file.
Check every price against the product record before the line sheet goes out.
A colourway failed in development, so it was removed from the range but not from the line sheet.
Confirm the final range first, and remove dropped styles and colours before you lay anything out.
The line sheet used one number and the purchase order another, so orders were hard to match.
Use the same style number on the line sheet, purchase orders and invoices.
The photo showed an early sample with details that later changed.
Photograph the salesman samples, or use clean flat sketches from the final tech pack.
The line sheet had no minimums or delivery dates, so buyers had to ask and orders were delayed.
Put delivery windows and minimums on every product and on the terms page.
Different agents sent different files to different buyers, so several versions were in circulation.
Put a version date on the cover and send one file from one place.
Follow one season's line sheet
Imagine Maya, who runs wholesale at a small resortwear brand, preparing her line sheet for market week:
- She starts from the final range and removes the two colours that failed in sampling.
- Style numbers, colourways, sizes and composition come from the tech packs; prices come from the latest costing.
- She photographs the salesman samples on a plain background.
- She groups the styles by delivery window, so buyers can plan whole looks.
- She checks every line against the product record, adds a version date and sends one PDF.
Confirm the range. Then build the sheet.
- Confirm the final range. Remove styles and colours that were dropped during sampling or costing.
- Pull product data from the source. Style numbers, colourways, sizes and composition come from the tech pack. See our guide to what a tech pack is.
- Set prices. Wholesale and suggested retail prices come from your costing and target margins. The costs themselves start in the bill of materials.
- Prepare images. Photograph salesman samples in a consistent style, or use clean flat sketches. Our guide to the types of samples in fashion explains salesman samples.
- Lay out the products. Group them by category, delivery window or story, so buyers can plan a whole look.
- Add order terms and contacts. Make it clear how to order and who to call.
- Check every line against the product record. Style numbers, colours and prices must match what the factory and your systems hold.
- Share and date it. Send a PDF or an online version, with a version date on the cover so buyers know it is current.
Line plan first. Line sheet last. Lookbook alongside.
A line plan is an internal plan made at the start of the season. It sets which products you will launch, how many, and at what price. A line sheet is an external sales document made at the end of development. It shows buyers what they can order. A lookbook is a set of styled images for inspiration, press and marketing, and usually has no prices or order details.
Some brands combine the line sheet with an order form, so buyers can fill in quantities by size and colour directly.
The last document in a long chain
Every change upstream, such as a swapped fabric, a dropped colourway or a new cost, must reach the line sheet before buyers see it. When the line sheet is a separate file, someone has to find each change and retype it, so some changes are always missed.
The fix is to build sales material from the same product record the design and sourcing teams use. A PLM (product lifecycle management) system holds that record. If you sell one small collection to a few stores, a carefully checked PDF may be enough for now. If you are new to PLM, read our guide to what PLM is.
How Polluxa helps
Polluxa PLM is product lifecycle management software for fashion, footwear, beauty, consumer goods and manufacturing brands. Our PLM software for fashion and consumer brands gives sales teams the same product record that design and sourcing use.
- Sales no longer work from old sheets and PDFs. With Sales Management, sales teams see live specs, prices and stock, also on mobile.
- Changes no longer need retyping. When product data changes, the change shows up for every user, so sales always see the current details.
- Customer feedback no longer stops at sales. Sales send customer feedback to the product team, where it can shape the next season.
- Buyers no longer wait for a new file. With Vendor Management, retail customers can check your product specifications, get prices, ask questions and complete orders.
- Results no longer need a separate report. Sales dashboards show results by product, region and channel.
Start this week
- Check your current line sheet against the latest costing and correct any price that has changed.
- Remove every colour or style that was dropped in development.
- Add a version date to the cover, and ask every agent to delete older copies.
When you want to see your sales team work from live product data, book a demo.
Frequently asked questions
A line sheet gives wholesale buyers everything they need to place an order: what the products look like, which colours and sizes exist, what they cost and when they ship. It turns a collection into an order.
A line sheet is a practical sales document with style numbers, prices and order terms. A lookbook shows styled images of the collection for inspiration and usually has no prices.
An image, style name and number, colourways, sizes, composition, wholesale price, suggested retail price, minimum order quantity and delivery window for each product, plus your order terms and contact details.
Most do. They show the wholesale price the retailer pays and a suggested retail price, so buyers can see their margin at a glance.
Make a new line sheet for every season or delivery, and update it whenever a price, colour or availability changes. Put a version date on it so buyers know which one is current.
