Brands Briefing: Executives have decided that the best tariffs action plan is to resist knee-jerk moves

For brands, it’s just another day trying to do business under the Trump administration. After more than two months of whiplash on tariffs policy — seeing 25% tariffs levied on Canada and Mexico, only to go away two days later, as just one example — many brand executives have decided that the best tariffs action plan is to resist knee-jerk moves. 

That’s not to say they are doing nothing in response to tariffs. But, many executives said they are done trying to guess which company they should move manufacturing to, to avoid tariffs – because, at this point, it seems that every country is at risk of having tariffs levied against it by the U.S. 

“I’ve spoken to people who are worried about moving anything to Vietnam even,” Alex Onsager,  CEO and co-founder of Character, a brand that sells tool kits and other home improvement accessories, said in an email. “That’s a huge change from a few months ago.” 

Instead, brands are focused on building an overall diversified supply chain that’s not too reliant on one country — this is something that many brands have been laser-focused on since the Covid-19 pandemic. And, they’re holding out on price increases for as long as possible.

“Our gold standard is still, ‘Where can we find the best manufacturing partner to deliver the highest utility and highest value to our customers?’” Eunice Byun, co-founder and CEO of kitchen accessories brand Material said. “That still has to be the guiding principle.”

She summed up the challenge brands face like so: “We are conscientious about margins and ensuring we still have a really healthy business, while also not denigrating the product itself, [including] the quality and where and with whom we’re sourcing it from.”

The story is slightly different for Canadian-based brands. Joanna Griffiths, founder and president of Canadian undergarment brand Knix, said there was initially a lot of “shock and fear” among Canadian brands the weekend of February 1, when President Donald Trump issued 25% tariffs on imports from Canada and Mexico, only to postpone them just a few days later. 

What was shocking at the time, Griffiths said, is that nobody — including business owners, 3PLs and investors — really knew what to do. She said she went live that weekend on Instagram and got responses from more than 1,600 small business owners, asking her for advice or to be put on lists where they could get more information about how to deal with tariffs. 

Since then, Griffiths said that she and other business owners have gotten a bit more clarity on some things they can do in the short term. For its part, Knix is in the process of opening a U.S.-based 3PL, because it previously shipped all of its packages out of Canada. 

“We haven’t made any price adjustments as of yet because we don’t want to,” Griffiths said. We don’t want to penalize our consumer for these changes that are taking place. … We also don’t want to make ourselves less competitive.”

Other brands that aren’t as heavily impacted are just focused on finding additional ways to diversify their supply chains. “We’re monitoring the situation like any responsible business person would do, but we we haven’t been overly reactive to it,” said Brian Berger, CEO and founder of menswear brand Mack Weldon. 

Byun of Material underscored how complex the situation is for modern brands. Material sells a wide variety of products including cutting boards, knives and glassware. The brand sources its wood from Europe, its stainless steel from Japan and its recycled plastic from South Korea. It also does some of its knife manufacturing in China. 

Material did raise prices on one item. But Byun has resisted making price increases across the board — and she hasn’t even wanted to run any sales encouraging customers to buy ahead of tariffs, worrying that it would feel disingenuous if tariffs were taken away two days later. 

Overall, Byun said Material’s ethos hasn’t changed: “You’re still looking for the best materials and best sourcing partners across the globe. You just have to figure out how the math works a little bit differently than before.” 

Or, to put it another way, tariffs are just one part of the equation. Finding a manufacturer that feels like they will truly be a good partner, that will work with a brand to absorb some potential tariff cost, is still important, no matter where they are located.

“There’s a lot of collaboration required in today’s supply chain because of some of these changes that are happening with the tariffs,” Byun said. –Anna Hensel

AG1’s year ahead 

In the words of supplement company AG1 CEO Kat Cole, the 15-year-old brand operated DTC “before it was cool.” But while speaking at Shoptalk this week, Cole shared that that will change in the near future as the company begins to branch out into traditional retail. “At some point, you get to a scale where, in order to reach the next ring of customers, we need to meet our customers where they are. And they’re not all online,” she said.

Cole’s Shoptalk panel focused on the company’s growth strategies after making $600 million in 2024 with just one signature product. She shared that the company is pulling back on marketing spending in favor of investing in more product development, with more new products are coming this year. 

The company has been laser-focused, “almost to a fault,” on its core offering, but Cole said it sees room to get more customers by tapping into new areas. “It’s not just about growth for growth’s sake,” she said. “We only want to do things that are hard and complicated and difficult to do with a level of agility and rigor.” –Melissa Daniels 

Not April Fool’s: Behind Set Active’s ‘Bloopers’ campaign

Late last year, Lindsey Carter, founder of the Los Angeles-based activewear brand Set Active, was testing out a new batch of leggings when she realized the company had a problem: Some of its newest garments were too snug. This was due to a manufacturing error; some of Set Active’s sample fabric was stretchier than the production fabric, meaning some finished pieces were tighter than expected. Approximately 25% of Set Active’s first-quarter merchandise was affected. Most SKUs were part of the brand’s core, year-round collection.

Carter considered scrapping the merchandise, but because there was so much inventory, “that would be completely unsustainable,” she told Modern Retail. What’s more, the product itself was still wearable. So, Carter and her team agreed to market the clothes as the “Bloopers Collection,” tell customers they’d need to size up and sell everything at a discount.

“We are built on the foundation of transparency,” Carter said. “It’s something I’ve been doing since day one. So I was like, ‘What if we just sell the product, educate our customers on exactly what was wrong with the product and guide them on how to buy the product?'”

Set Active debuted the “Bloopers Collection” on its website on March 13. The page offers leggings, shorts and sports bras at a discount of 25% off the full retail price. To market the collection, Set Active took to social media, posting images of burnt toast and a spilled iced matcha, all with the caption “ooops.”

Curious to learn more, customers flocked to the Set Active site. It’s now been two weeks since Set Active debuted the collection, and “we’re nearly three-fourths of the way sold through the inventory,” Carter explained. “It’s clear the story and the education really resonated with everybody.”

While Carter isn’t hoping for another manufacturing error in the future, the “Bloopers Collection” has given the brand a new playbook to tap into in case something goes awry. “We now have that foundation where we’ve educated the consumer that we do ‘Bloopers,'” Carter said. She added, “We owned our mistake. … And we’ve had people say, because of our transparency, we’ve converted them into fans.” –Julia Waldow

What we’re reading

• Vera Bradley is offloading bracelet brand Pura Vida for $1 million, just six years after acquiring the brand for $85 million. 
• Levi’s CEO Michelle Gass spoke about the current consumer environment on a Shoptalk panel; in short, she said that in times of uncertainty, customers are more likely to go to the brands they love and trust. 
• Nerds Gummy Clusters have gained a cult following with an unexpected demographic: marathon runners. 

What we’ve covered

• How Liquid Death is tackling the soda wars. 
• Why SoulCycle wants to open standalone ‘fashion’ stores to boost its apparel business. 
• When two days just isn’t enough: Amazon is making Prime Day into a four-day event this year.