STORY BY BENJAMIN LERNER PHOTOGRAPHY
COURTESY DARN TOUGH VERMONT
Tough Love
How Darn Tough Vermont Changed the Sock Industry One Stitch at a Time .
Strength . Flexibility . Adaptability . Resilience .
For Darn Tough Vermont , these qualities perfectly define both their
products and the people behind them . When Darn Tough CEO
Ric Cabot first founded the brand in 2004 , he created an honest and unpretentious product line that revolutionized the sock industry by rejecting established norms . Refusing to compromise on his ethical principles or lower his quality standards , Ric was able to build on his father ’ s legacy of innovative textile entrepreneurship and grow Darn Tough into a formidable industry powerhouse .
Ric ’ s father , Marc Cabot , began his journey in the textile industry after leaving a promising reporting job at the Miami Herald in the early 1960s . After experiencing creative frustration as a writer , Marc ultimately found his artistic calling in fabric design . As Marc himself puts it , “ Every artist has to find their way to make their creative mark on the world . Writers do it with a typewriter . I used a knitting machine to express myself .”
When Marc was hired as a designer at a successful corporate textile firm in New York City , he was quickly presented with the opportunity to accept a high-paying job as a sock salesman . Marc then made a bold and unconventional decision : he declined their offer , and opted instead to continue his work as a textile designer on the condition that he could work part time in a knitting factory in North Carolina to learn the finer points of hosiery production .
After familiarizing himself with industry-standard knitting techniques by immersing himself in his work at the hosiery mill , Marc returned to New York City . He then spent years developing business contacts in the textile industry while working as a designer and salesman . When the time was right , Marc capitalized on the knowledge and skills he had acquired during his time at the knitwear factory in North Carolina . He developed a uniquely cunning business strategy : working directly with hosiery mills as the exclusive commissioned sock designer for corporate clothing brands , he operated both as a creative consultant and a business negotiator . This unique arrangement allowed him to broker airtight deals between hosiery manufacturers and corporate suppliers .
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