#28 Glenn Chamandy

Gildan (asi/56842) – President & CEO

2025 Rank: NR

Industry Experience: 42 years

Previous Appearances on Counselor Power 50: 10

Apparel is in Glenn Chamandy’s blood.

While growing up in Montreal, his parents owned and operated a children’s wear company called Harley Inc., which supplied clothing to Canadian retailers. After attending Champlain College in Vermont, Chamandy joined the family business full-time.

That was just a prelude to Chamandy’s greatest professional accomplishment: starting Counselor Top 40 supplier Gildan (asi/56842), one of the world’s largest manufacturers of blank apparel.

Since co-founding the company with his cousin Greg over four decades ago, Chamandy hasn’t slowed down. Gildan recorded $3.6 billion in total net sales last year (including promo, wholesale and retail). Moreover, Chamandy engineered the acquisition of one of its biggest competitors in Hanesbrands, a seismic move that doubled Gildan’s sales. The deal continues Gildan’s history of buying up some of the biggest players in the promo apparel space, including Anvil Holdings in 2012, Comfort Colors in 2015 and American Apparel in 2017.

“The acquisition of Hanes doubled our scale and brought together a portfolio of iconic brands with our world-class, vertically integrated supply chain, creating opportunities to advance our shared commitment to quality, innovation and industry-leading sustainability practices,” Chamandy tells Counselor. “Together, we believe we’re better positioned to serve our customers and help drive sustainable, long-term value for our shareholders.”

“Success for me is building a strong organization that continues to learn, adapt and thrive over the long term.” Glenn Chamandy, Gildan (asi/56842)

The fact that Chamandy was in a position to spearhead the deal is in itself quite remarkable. It was in late 2023 that the Gildan board of directors ousted Chamandy as president and CEO from the company he founded and replaced him with an outside chief executive. An epic board fight ensued over the next six months, with more twists and turns than a season of Succession. The final outcome? Chamandy won back both his job and company, while the board that had fired him was replaced with a group of Chamandy supporters.

With his leadership at the promo industry’s third-largest supplier resolidified as he executes an ambitious corporate vision, Chamandy returns to the Counselor Power 50 list for the first time since 2018.

Chamandy continues to make his mark in other ways – in particular sustainability, where Gildan stands out as an industry and global leader. The company achieved an ambitious goal of sourcing 100% sustainable cotton, and surpassed its water intensity reduction target for the second year in a row, which Chamandy calls “a significant step forward in our ongoing commitment to making apparel better for our people, communities and the planet.” Under his leadership, Gildan has also forged partnerships with local nonprofit organizations, including supporting health and education centers located in Bangladesh, a country where Gildan operates two textile facilities and a regional office. For Chamandy, running a successful business means giving back to the environment and the communities where Gildan operates.

Since Chamandy’s return, it hasn’t been completely smooth sailing. In June, a short seller published a report alleging that Gildan inflated sales by “channel stuffing,” or the practice of pushing short-term growth by selling more product into a distribution channel than necessary for demand. An investor then in October filed a class action lawsuit making the same allegations. Gildan and Counselor Top 40 supplier S&S Activewear (asi/84358) also amended the provisions of their agreement after the FTC opened an investigation into the companies for potential price discrimination.

Gildan, which recorded estimated promotional products sales of more than $900 million in 2025, also faced challenges from trade policy and geopolitics. “As tariff policies evolved and uncertainty increased across the industry, we had to remain agile and make decisions that protected our competitiveness, our customers and our long-term strategy,” says Chamandy, adding that Gildan has addressed these headwinds by leveraging the strength of its vertically integrated business model, optimizing its global manufacturing network and communicating transparently with customers and investors.

However, Chamandy is quick to point out that these wins are a direct result of the team he has built. “Bringing together two organizations, navigating a rapidly evolving trade environment, and continuing to execute against our long-term strategy required tremendous focus and collaboration,” he says.

Looking ahead, Chamandy is focused on guiding Gildan through this next chapter and helping bring together the people, capabilities and cultures that will shape its future.

“I remain committed to developing the next generation of leaders and creating opportunities for employees to grow,” he explains. “Ultimately, success for me is building a strong organization that continues to learn, adapt and thrive over the long term.”

One example is ALIGN (Advanced Logistics and Inventory for Gildan’s Network), a project developed with IVADO Labs and funded by Scale AI, which leverages AI to optimize inventory allocation and truckload building, and is designed to support logistics efficiency, fulfillment speed, customer satisfaction and overall supply chain performance.

“We believe AI has the potential to play an increasingly important role across many areas of our business,” he says. “It will be interesting to see how we can move beyond standalone tools and more seamlessly integrate AI across our operations, with solutions working together to support employees in making faster, better-informed decisions while creating opportunities for productivity, innovation and growth.”