Welcome!
You didn’t start your fashion business to spend your days lost in spreadsheets, chasing vendors, or wondering where that one trim order disappeared to-or maybe you did but it’s become too overwhelming to keep track of it all. This kit is designed to bring structure, sanity, and strategy to the backend of your brand. This kit was made for visionaries as well as operations and production managers making sense of the ever evolving marketplace.
Whether you’re launching your first line or streamlining your 5th season, this is your foundation for working smarter-not just harder. Some of the largest brands and department stores on the planet still rely on Excel for order placement, fulfillment and production tracking.
With this you will be 5 steps ahead-organizing your workflow in a way that’s visual, intuitive, and built for the pace of modern fashion.
🛠️ How to Use This Kit
Each section of this template was built to cover a key workflow in fashion production and brand operations. You’ll find templates pre-filled with sample info so you can see how it works, it’s really as simple as just replacing that data with your own information.
Tips:
- Replace all sample text with your real data
- Keep everything in one workspace so you don’t lose track. Notion is a great tool to use, if you do not have it already it is free to start.
- Review weekly: update statuses and check in on bottlenecks. If you’re in a sampling or shipping season I recommend updating daily so that your weekly reviews do not take hours of your time.
- Keep the first line as an example for yourself and teammates while creating the sheets.
- Duplicate tabs to track each season (i.e., SS25, FW25)
📌 1. Product Development Tracker
What this is:
A central dashboard to track every style you’re developing—from sketch to sample to approved product.
How to use it:
- Add each style you’re working on (one row per style)
- Upload a sketch or image reference
- List out the fabric, trims, and fit notes
- Update the sample status regularly (“Idea” → “In Progress” → “Approved”)
- Add your projected launch date so you can plan your calendar around it
🧠 Tip: Create filters to show only “In Progress” items when you’re planning sample reviews. There is a view of all samples, as well as one that only shows your “In Progress” samples.
Product Development Tracker📌 2. Vendor Directory
What this is:
Your go-to Rolodex of suppliers, factories, and partners—because you shouldn’t be searching through emails every time you need to reorder zippers.
How to use it:
- Enter vendors by category: Fabric, Trims, Hardware, Packaging, etc.
- Include contact info, minimum order quantities, lead times, and notes
- Use “Last Contacted” to stay on top of outreach
- Optional: add a “Rating” column to track responsiveness or reliability
🧠 Tip: Color code or tag your “favorite vendors” for quicker access.
Vendor Directory📌 3. Order Tracking Sheet
What this is:
Keep track of every customer or wholesale order from placement to delivery.
How to use it:
- Add a new row every time you receive an order
- Include SKU, size, date, and shipping method
- Enter tracking numbers once fulfilled
- Use filters to see all unshipped or recently shipped orders
🧠 Tip: This can be duplicated per sales channel (ex: one for Shopify, one for Faire).
Order Tracking Sheet📌 4. Sales Channel Planner
What this is:
Track what styles are selling where, how they’re priced, and when they’re launching.
How to use it:
- Log each product’s sales channel (e.g. Shopify, Faire, IG DMs, In-store)
- Add your wholesale and retail prices
- Track launch dates so your content calendar can align
- Optional: add notes like “exclusive” or “limited run”
🧠 Tip: Add a “Channel Performance” column later if you want to track revenue per platform.
Sales Channel Planner📌 5. Content Calendar
What this is:
Plan your marketing content based on your product development + sales timelines.
How to use it:
- Add the product or campaign you’re featuring
- Write your caption idea or talking point
- Add a CTA (Call to Action) like “Join the Waitlist” or “Shop Now”
- List where your content is stored (Dropbox folder, photoshoot link, etc.)
- Set the date you plan to post
- Weekly To Do: Go back through social media posts at the end of the week to enter statistics. See what posts are driving traffic to your site!
🧠 Tip: Try batching your posts weekly using this calendar as your north star.
Content Calendar💡 Final Tip:
This kit was designed to support your creative vision and make sure the logistics don’t fall through the cracks.
You can always expand on each section as your business grows (add tabs for sampling feedback, delivery tracking, or cost sheets later).