What is a range plan in fashion?

Short answer

Short answer: A range plan in fashion is the seasonal blueprint that sets the number of styles, options, prices, units, and margins by category, color, and size in order to hit a sales and profit target. It looks like a grid, but it functions as a merchandising forecast that allocates risk and capital before you commit to sampling and buys. Get it right and production feels routine, get it wrong and you finance slow movers for months.

Why range planning is a merchandising forecast in grid form

Merchandisers love grids because they make complex bets legible. The range plan is the season on one page: how many knits, which bottoms, how deep in core colors, how many fashion shots, and where margin is earned. That grid is not a pretty list. It is a quantitative forecast that assigns demand, price architecture, and unit depth to every option across sizes and channels.

For emerging brands, this is the most expensive mistake to make in season planning. Miss the width to depth ratio and you tie cash in fringe colors instead of investing in proven winners. Over-index on newness without carryover and you pay a sampling tax with little payback. Underestimate plus-size runs or overbuild XS and inventory sits. A single mis-sized knit drop can trap 50,000 to 100,000 dollars in working capital and force markdowns that vaporize margin.

Treat the range plan like a rolling P&L. It allocates dollars to categories, sets initial markup, enforces option count limits, and caps unit buys by channel. The grid is only as good as the demand math behind it. Good operators revisit it weekly during line build, then lock it when sampling starts so sourcing can price and calendar with confidence.

Anatomy of a solid range plan

At a minimum your range plan should track:

• Targets: season revenue, gross margin percent, IMU percent, markdown allowance.
• Architecture: category mix percent, good-better-best price ladders, hero vs support styles.
• Options: number of styles and colorways per category, percent carryover vs new, fabric continuity.
• Depth: planned units by option and size curve, channel splits, forecast sell-through and weeks of supply.
• Profit drivers: landed cost, FOB, duty, freight, margin by option, breakeven units.
• Calendar: design lock, sampling gates, buy dates, ex-factory, inbound, floor set.

Operator heuristics that prevent expensive misses:

• Width to depth: anchor 60 to 70 percent of units in 20 to 30 percent of options. Prove the rest with test depths.
• Carryover: hold 30 to 50 percent of units in proven bodies or fabrics with repeat colors. It funds risk elsewhere.
• Price steps: maintain visible ladders. Avoid dead zones between key price points that confuse the shopper.
• Color discipline: core colors earn depth. Fashion colors earn width only. Cap any one fashion color to under 10 percent of category units.
• Size curve reality: size curves follow sales, not ideals. Update curves with last season's sell-through by size per category.

Common failure modes:

• Counting silhouettes instead of units. The unit plan is what hits the bank.
• Overstuffing options to please design, then starving depth. The floor sees thin rails, not moodboards.
• Ignoring lead times. Late fabrics and trims destroy the grid's sequencing and kill margin through freight.
• Building a range that cannot be kitted into looks. Merchandising stories matter for conversion and content production.

Range plan vs related documents

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Bridge: from moodboard to factory math without new tools

Range plans touch creative direction, tech packs, and pre-production. The F* Word uses AI to validate your range math against target architecture, then turns approved designs into production assets without extra headcount. From a garment concept, The F* Word generates a factory-ready tech pack in 8 to 10 minutes, including BOM and construction notes, and it also generates moodboards as the upstream half of the same workflow. The F* Word is not a PLM, not a 3D sim, and not an image generator. It is the validation and orchestration layer that sits between your briefs, your suppliers, and your calendar.

Typical operator flow:

1. Import or outline your range targets and option caps by category.
2. Attach styles or sketches to cells in the grid. The system flags overstuffed options and thin depth.
3. Lock the range, auto-generate tech packs, and request quotes. Costs roll back into margin checks.
4. Issue buy-ready packs and delivery calendars. Track changes with reason codes, not guesswork.

See how this plugs into your current stack on the workflow overview. Estimate time savings and unit economics on the pricing page.

Operator note: keep the range plan single source of truth for width, depth, and price. Push only final decisions downstream. Every rework you avoid in pre-production is dollars you can put into depth on winners.

Ready to stress test your next range across margin, size curves, and deliveries without adding another tool to your stack? Try it free at thefword.ai or book a demo.

Frequently Asked Questions

How early should I lock a range plan?

Lock when you have enough proof on carryover bodies, price ladders, and fabric availability to set depth. For most brands that is 20 to 24 weeks before first delivery. You can keep a 10 percent flex bucket for late adds, but guard the rest. Late changes raise cost and push freight.

What metrics matter most inside the range plan?

IMU percent, unit depth by option, and size curves drive most of the outcome. Also track sell-through targets and weeks of supply by category so your depth lines up with marketing and delivery cadence. If these four are right, color and fashion risk are easier to manage.

How do I connect range planning to tech packs and sourcing?

Use the range as the gate that triggers tech pack generation and quote requests. With The F* Word you can convert approved designs to factory-ready tech packs in 8 to 10 minutes, including BOM and construction notes, then roll supplier costs back into the grid to confirm margin. This keeps design, merchandising, and sourcing in one rhythm.

What is a good width to depth ratio for a small drop?

A practical starting point is 8 to 12 options with 60 to 70 percent of units in 3 to 4 core options. Carryover at least one proven body and one fabric story, then test two to three fashion shots at shallow depth. Adjust with live sell-through and protect cash by capping experiments.