Canvas — the visual board built for apparel
A visual line board is the workspace where apparel teams review the season as images, not rows — laying out styles, colorways, and collection structure so design and merchandising can make assortment decisions together. Most brands do this in generic whiteboards or static slide decks that go stale the moment the line changes. Canvas is built for apparel and stays connected to the product record, so the board is always the live state of the line.
What Canvas covers
Connected to the full planning workflow
The product record feeds the visual line board with styles, attributes, and imagery.
Review the line visually — boards, gallery views, and live collection structure in one apparel-built workspace.
Approved styles move into line sheets, colorways, costing, and sample tracking.
Explore the product-creation workflow in depth
Product Development
Line sheets, colorways, costing, and sample tracking — the next step after the line is reviewed in Canvas.
Line Planning
How apparel brands build and manage seasonal line plans from first concept to final buy.
For Designers & Product Teams
How RetailNorthstar gives creative teams visibility without forcing them into spreadsheets.
Product Data Foundation
The single product record that feeds Canvas and flows through to channel output.
Canvas questions
What is Canvas?
Canvas is RetailNorthstar's visual board — a workspace built specifically for apparel line review and assortment sign-off. Design and merchandising teams see the full line as a live visual board connected to product data, instead of trading static slide decks and screenshots.
How is Canvas different from a generic visual whiteboard?
Generic whiteboards are blank canvases — they hold images but know nothing about apparel. Canvas understands styles, colorways, categories, price tiers, and collection structure, and it stays connected to the underlying product data. When a style is dropped, added, or recolored, the board reflects it automatically — so the board is always the current state of the line, not a stale snapshot.
What does post-Illustrator workflow mean?
Post-Illustrator workflow means Canvas picks up after Adobe Illustrator. Designers keep creating in their preferred tools; once artwork is ready it flows into Canvas as a product record — placed on the board, linked to commercial data, and visible to merchandising. No re-entry, no slide decks, no version confusion.
Can design teams use Canvas without learning a planning tool?
Yes. Designers interact with the visual board and gallery view — interfaces built for creative review, not financial planning. They see product images, color stories, and collection structure without needing to understand OTB budgets or buy quantities. The planning complexity stays with the merchandising team.
See how design connects to the commercial plan.
Book a live demo and see how Canvas brings the visual line review into one connected apparel workflow.
Connected apparel planning — live in weeks, not quarters.