When fashion brands start working in wholesale and B2B they know they need some selling tools but it can be a bit confusing trying to figure out which ones they need and how to create them! Line sheets are a key tool for selling at wholesale (and in many other areas of their businesses) and as a fashion buyer, I've seen lots of them in my time; I've written this post and created a quick template which I hope will help clarify what this document is needed for and what to include in it.
Line sheets are essentially a list of styles from a particular range with pictures and some key information on each style. That's it. It really isn't any more complicated than that! To prove this I whipped up a quick template (in under ten minutes!) that you can use if you like. Find the link at the bottom of this page.
Fashion brands give line sheets to their wholesale customers to show the details of the styles they're showing them either in person, at a trade show or via email. It's a detailed view of the range as opposed to a lookbook or catalogue which gives a top line overview or a 'feel' for the brand.
I've worked for some of the biggest retailers in the UK as well as many independents and pretty much everyone uses the same kind of template; it's usually a fairly standard grid template with pics and info inside it.
I'm sure your images will be much nicer than mine (!) but I just wanted to show you that the industry standard is fairly straightforward and doesn't require anything fancy. They can get more basic than I've created (even at quite premium brands!) so don't put too much pressure on yourself to create anything too complicated.
What information you include is down to you and the priorities of your customer; name, reference number, colour, wholesale list prices and RRP are common. Feel free to add in bits of info that are also relevant to your brand and customer like Country of Origin, Minimum order quantity (MOQ) or size range as well.
Please note that my template is best opened in Word and not in Google Docs; I made it in Word and the formatting doesn't usually work well between the two in my experience (!).
I made it in Word rather than Illustrator or Photoshop so that it's accessible to most people but you may find it easier to create your own template in the software that you're most comfortable with.
Here's the Link for edit in Word. It should be easy to switch my pics with yours, fill in your info and so on.
I'd love to hear about how you get on with it! Either comment below or send me an email.
Take a look at my blog and website for more insight into wholesale; I discuss these points in more detail in my Essential Guide to Wholesale.
I also give practical advice for your wholesale problems like what the correct wholesale list prices are, when you should be selling, advice on pitching to buyers and much more.
In addition to my guides and I offer a spreadsheet of 300 potential customers details at nicoledavidson.co.uk. It's a great tool for targeting the wholesale customers that are right for your brand.
