In today’s retail environment, uncertainty has become the norm rather than the exception. Tariffs, shifting trade policies and evolving consumer expectations have pushed brands and manufacturers to rethink their sourcing strategies and supply chain resilience. The priorities now are diversification and flexibility.
For Interloop, which produces 850 million pairs of hosiery annually, these challenges have underscored the importance of collaboration, innovation and long-term planning. The company, which also offers knitted apparel, seamless activewear and denim, owns a global network of production facilities in Pakistan, Sri Lanka and China. And most recently the company has invested in standing up a new factory in Egypt. It also champions digital design technologies, which aid in agility, speed and stability in a volatile market.
At the same time, Interloop is doubling down on its commitment to sustainability and traceability, ensuring that progress on environmental goals doesn’t get sidelined by short-term disruptions. From pioneering new fibers like banana-based textiles to scaling its Loop Trace platform, the company is proving that resilience and responsibility can—and must—go hand in hand.
Here, Interloop North America president Hilda McDuff shares how the company maintains focus on its core capabilities while also future-proofing its business.
Q: Let’s start with the tariff situation. Big picture, how has this impacted how your clients are thinking about their sourcing?
Hilda McDuff: We’ve heard from our customers that country of production diversification is so important [and has been] going back a couple of years ago. Interloop is in the process of building a facility in Egypt for manufacturing. It’s so important today to have that flexibility. We’ve heard the term ‘there is no safe harbor these days.’ Businesses want to mitigate risk and be prepared to respond to tariffs or other geopolitical issues.
Q: How are you working with clients to mitigate impact?
HM: We have a ‘Situation Room’ at the office where we meet to discuss issues, to better understand how to respond to those challenges. Analyzing trends with the business, understanding what’s working is an ongoing exercise. What are the products that you might want to back-off of or expand on, in response to what the consumer is responding to? It has been a combination of strategy from a product and product flow standpoint, but also from a country of production and cost standpoint to plan for those unexpected costs in your supply chain.
Q: And then from an assortment standpoint, are you looking at different assortments based on what was available, based on pricing going into holiday and into the spring?
HM: The trends that we’re seeing right now are not that different in terms of what the consumer is responding to. We do see more ‘buying closer in,’ so there has been an evaluation of calendars to understand what products might have a longer selling period with more runway. We’re focusing on core and making sure that customers are covered on those key volume drivers. It is more of a laser focus on assortment planning and making sure that the value is still there for the products, and then evaluating what that mix of value plus value add and fashion is required for a solid assortment.
Q: I keep hearing that today’s consumer is more value driven. Are you seeing that? And how does that impact what you’re offering?
HM: Basics tend to do a little bit better in tough times. Some of those products, like socks, are a lower cost of entry for the consumer. Some are more recession proof than others, so putting a focus on how to ramp up our offer and have a more robust or rigorous strategy around those value products has been a focus as well.
Q: You might have a slight advantage here, since you are vertically integrated. But one of the other conversations that’s really coming up with the tariffs is traceability and supply chain mapping. Beyond your owned operations, how is Interloop going about that?
HM: Interloop continues to have a fierce commitment to sustainability and traceability that pre-dates the reciprocal tariff timing. European standards have driven early adoption and focus in the U.S. Interloop has been dedicated to traceability with Loop Trace technology by providing an integrated platform that traces cotton from farm to finished product. We see both retailers and brands committed to this initiative. In partnership with our customers, we align on solutions for compliance with a commitment to responsibility in manufacturing. It’s playing the long game with the investment required. Looking ahead to the future, it’s somewhat futureproofing your organization in that respect. And so, it’s a critical part of what we do every day, as a responsible manufacturer.
Q: You mentioned the EU ESG legislation. What parts of it are exciting to you?
HM: The legislation does educate our industry, and it drives compliance to improve the areas that are important to our environment and climate.
The digital passport has been very interesting to watch for promoting transparency and improvements for circularity. Interloop’s commitment to reducing carbon emissions, carbon footprint, promoting water stewardship and expanding sustainable material usage are all focus areas for driving change.
Q: How is Interloop going about achieving its sustainability goals?
We have our stated percentage in our sustainability report to achieve 70% products in sustainable materials.
Interloop is committed to research and innovation for sustainable materials. The Regen Kapas project where Interloop has invested in working with local farmers to restore soil health and improve the livelihood of the farming community is just one example of the commitment to this initiative.
Innovating a banana fiber for socks and apparel is another example of marketing and commercializing a cellulosic sustainable fiber while creating a revenue stream for banana farmers. These are examples of research and innovation working together to create sustainable fibers that work for the environment and our industry.
Q: Talk about that commercialization process. There doesn’t seem to be a lack of innovation in the market, but trying to scale and commercialize is really a challenge for the industry.
HM: What has been helpful for us is working with brand partners dedicated to the cause as we are, because when you have that support, it does give you that avenue for commercializing and then getting it out into the marketplace. Guess Jeans partnered with Interloop to launch banana fiber in its Fall 2024 collection.
Q: Beyond traceability, how does Interloop go about onboarding new technologies, and what are the most promising ones that you are working with now?
HM: The digital 3D CLO design process has gained acceptance over the years. This has supported sample reduction and lead time improvement. The 3D process for style selection in the initial development stage does cut down on physical sampling in the first wave creating early elimination while cutting back on the number of physical samples.
Interloop’s investment in technology and digitized systems creates efficiencies while being on the cutting edge and in front of creating solutions that make sense for our customers.
For some customers 3D design has been the process for past two to three years. Today, there is even more curiosity about how technology can improve processes for speed. Everybody’s looking for speed and agility, and digital design processes can help with that goal.
Q: On the topic of speed, what are some other ways Interloop is working with your clients on increasing their ability for quick turn, smaller orders?
HM: We are all looking for ways to take lead time out of the cycle. And so, whether it’s stocking yarns, platforming materials or working with a core group of fibers to start that development process, these are some examples that can support the development calendar process. Interloop follows lean principles that guide the process—not only from a manufacturing standpoint, but from the way we work with customers and their product development calendars. If we can improve efficiencies, we can take lead time out of that development process. Collaboration and dedication to the process are key for agility and speed.
Q: How is the new facility in Egypt going to play into speed or other overarching goals?
HM: The goal for that facility is to provide country of production diversification, but also efficiencies within certain products. Socks will be the first category that will be manufactured in the new facility. Transport times are expected to create favorability as well.
Q: And what about inventory management? How good are your clients at predicting their needs and then articulating that to your team?
HM: Inventory management is always a challenge, and certainly in a volatile environment when consumer demand fluctuates up and down. Having the right forecasting tools in place and collaborative forecasting relationships with customers is critical. In this environment, it is not just a monthly process, it could be a several times a week process. The key is staying connected with your customer on shifting strategies that impact inventory. The best practice is to have a collaborative practice in place with your partners to mitigate inventory risks.
Q: How is the uncertainty and volatility that’s happening specifically for the U.S. market impacting other markets?
HM: It’s a little early to tell, but with the changing reciprocal tariff strategies across the globe, there could be excess or tight capacities negatively impacting costs and strategy. We are watching closely to better understand the long-term impact on how pricing and positioning plays out for manufacturing long term.
Q: It looks like we’re probably in a prolonged period of uncertainty. Let’s put it that way. How is Interloop working to put in place practices that really address the volatility we’re seeing today.
HM: The order of the day is there is a lot of uncertainty that makes it difficult and a real challenge for planning. Our approach has been, focus on the customer and focus on the things that we do well. You can’t be everything to everybody, but we’ve got core competencies in specific product categories. Aligning core competencies with your customers and then working together for the best strategies that serve the consumer will serve the business in the end. We work to bring solutions to the challenges and being a collaborative partner for the best outcome.
So, keeping that finger on the pulse and making sure that you’re being responsive and are prepared to shift is critical in this environment. One thing you can count on in this business is change.
