> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://docs.garmentflow.ai/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.
# Develop a style
> Create a reusable style master in GarmentFlow — set its identity, add colorways, and ready it for the BOM and cost sheet that get built on top of it.
A [style](/reference/glossary#style)
is the place a design lives. Develop one — give it an identity, add its
colorways, and put it in front of the production artifacts the rest of
GarmentFlow reads from.
## What this workflow achieves
You end this workflow with a saved style master that has a tenant-unique
style number, a commercial identity (name,
[Customer](/reference/glossary#customer),
season, gender), a structured colorway list, and a thumbnail. The style
is now the canonical home for the design: its
[BOM](/reference/glossary#bom-bill-of-materials),
[cost sheet](/reference/glossary#cost-sheet),
and other artifacts get built on top of it, and any
[order](/reference/glossary#order)
that sells the design links to it instead of re-creating it.
## When to use it
* A new apparel design is moving into development and needs a home in
the system.
* You are about to start an order for a design that does not yet exist
as a style — develop the style first, then link the order to it.
If the design already exists as a style — even from a past season or a
different customer — open the existing style and reuse it. That is the
point of the model. See
[the style-centric model](/concepts/style-centric-model).
## Prerequisites
* **A style numbering scheme.** Your tenant's administrator has
configured the numbering scheme the platform uses to assign style
numbers on create.
* **Default season and gender lists.** Your tenant's administrator has
configured the lists the create form picks from.
* **A Customer record**, if you want the style to carry the buyer it
was developed for. The customer must exist in your tenant. The
Customer link is optional but typically set at create.
* **An order record**, only if you plan to create the style from
inside an order (see the alternative entry point below). The order
must exist in your tenant.
## Roles involved
Users with style-management permission create styles, add and edit
colorways, and upload thumbnails. Anyone authenticated to your tenant
can open a saved style and read it.
## Step-by-step
The canonical path is **master-first**: create the style on its own,
then link it to orders later.
1. **Create the style master.** Open the **Styles** module and start a
new style from "Create style". The platform assigns the style
number when you save — you do not type one in. For the canonical
path, do not link an order yet. (If you are already inside an order
and want to create the style from that context, see
[Alternative: from an order](#alternative-from-an-order).)
2. **Set the style's identity.** Fill in the style's commercial fields
on the create form:
* `Style name` — the design's name. Required.
* `Customer style no.` and `Customer style name` — the buyer's own
number and name for the design. Optional.
* `Season` and `Gender` — chosen from your tenant's configured
lists. Optional.
* `Customer` — the brand or buyer the design is developed for.
Optional, but typically set at create so the style carries its
buyer from the start.
* `Style thumbnail` — the image that identifies the style across
lists and pickers. Optional; JPG, PNG, or TIF, up to 25 MB.
`Customer style no.` and `Customer style name` are stored in
uppercase — the form upper-cases what you type so values line up
consistently across the system.
Saving the form creates the style master, with its assigned style
number, and opens its detail page.
3. **Add the structured colorways.** On the saved style, add each
[colorway](/reference/glossary#colorway)
the design will be produced in: name, optional code, hex value,
optional Pantone reference, and an optional per-colorway thumbnail.
Order them as you want them to appear downstream — the BOM and the
order line-ups read this list in the order you set.
4. **Set up the style's owned artifacts.** The style is now ready for
the artifacts that define how the design is built and costed. They
are owned by the style and built in their own work:
* [Build the BOM](/modules/build-the-bom) — the list of fabrics and trims
the style is made from.
* [Build the cost sheet](/modules/build-the-cost-sheet) — the
per-piece price build-up the style is quoted and produced against.
The style also owns its tech-pack files and its manufacturing,
packing, QC, and cost-analysis artifacts — each kept with the
style alongside the BOM and cost sheet.
### Alternative: from an order
If you are already inside an order that needs a brand-new design, you
can open the create-style form from that order. The form behaves the
same — same fields, same numbering, same uppercase rule on the customer
style fields — but the order is pre-selected, so saving the style adds
it to that order's style line-up immediately. The order team then fills
in the order-specific colors, sizes, and quantities. For the order-side
editing, see the [Orders module guide](/modules/orders).
The master-first path is the canonical one. Order-context creation is
the alternative entry point for users already in an order, not a
different kind of style.
## Decision points
* **Master-first vs. from an order.** Create the style first, link an
order later, unless you are already working in an order that needs
the design. Master-first keeps the style reusable across the orders
it will sell across; the order-context path is a shortcut, not a
different style.
* **Free-text colorway label vs. structured colorways.** The style
record carries a legacy free-text `Colorway` label, but the BOM and
the order line-ups read from the structured colorway list. Build the
structured list — that is what downstream uses.
## Business rules in play
These rules govern this workflow. They are documented once on the
[Style page](/modules/styles); this workflow only summarizes.
* A style number is assigned at create and never edited.
* A style number is unique within your tenant.
* A linked Customer must belong to your tenant. Same for a linked
order.
* The Customer's name is captured on the style at link time and is
kept on the style even if the customer record is later removed.
* A style can exist with or without an order link. Linking is optional.
* Creating a style with an order link adds it to that order's style
line-up; re-linking the same style to the same order does not add a
duplicate line.
* The thumbnail must be JPG, PNG, or TIF, and 25 MB or smaller.
* Creating, editing colorways on, and uploading to a style are
restricted to users with style-management permission.
The style's commercial fields are effectively fixed at create — the
style has no header-edit path after save (re-uploading the thumbnail
aside). Set them deliberately the first time. See
[Effect of changes](/modules/styles#effect-of-changes) on the Style
page for what can and cannot be changed afterward.
## Dates set or affected
A style carries **no business dates of its own** — developing one sets
no target ship date, no season-start date, no quote date. The only
timestamps on the style are the audit timestamps the platform sets
when the record is created and updated.
Dates a reader will associate with the style live elsewhere and are
read there:
* The orders linked to the style carry the customer-facing dates
(order date, target ship date, ship date). See
[Order lifecycle](/concepts/order-lifecycle).
* The BOM carries an approval timestamp on each approved version.
* The
[readiness engine](/reference/glossary#readiness-engine)
derives milestone dates from the production work in flight.
## What happens next
A saved style master is the precondition for the rest of style
development. The natural next steps:
1. [Build the BOM](/modules/build-the-bom) for the style.
2. [Build the cost sheet](/modules/build-the-cost-sheet) for the style.
3. **Link the style into the orders that sell it.** One style supports
many orders. See [Orders](/modules/orders).
Each subsequent revision of the BOM or cost sheet is saved as a new
[artifact version](/reference/glossary#artifact-version)
on the style, so the style keeps evolving while each order keeps the
version it was built against. For the model behind this, see
[BOM, cost sheet, and artifact versions](/concepts/bom-cost-sheet-artifact-versions).
## Best practices
* **Create the style first; link an order later.** Master-first keeps
the design reusable across the orders it will sell across.
* **Set the Customer at create.** The customer name on the style is
captured the moment you link, and it stays visible even if the
customer record is later removed — so set the right one up front.
* **Build the structured colorway list, not just the free-text label.**
The BOM and the order line-ups read from the structured list, so
the work pays off downstream.
* **Put the lead colorway first.** The order in the structured list
is what the BOM and order line-ups show.
* **Upload a clear thumbnail.** Lists and pickers across GarmentFlow
use it; a clear image makes the design recognizable at a glance.
* **If you create the style from an order to save a step**, remember
to finish the order's line-up details (colors, sizes, quantities) in
the order itself — that is where order-side details live.
## Related pages
* [Style](/modules/styles)
* [The style-centric model](/concepts/style-centric-model)
* [BOM, cost sheet, and artifact versions](/concepts/bom-cost-sheet-artifact-versions)
* [BOM](/modules/bom)
* [Cost Sheet](/modules/cost-sheet)