#16 Ira Neaman & Rob Watson

Vantage Apparel (asi/93390)

2024 Rank: #17

Ira Neaman – President & Executive Chairman

Industry Experience: 48 years

Previous Appearances on Counselor Power 50: 19

Rob Watson – CEO

Industry Experience: 18 years

Previous Appearances on Counselor Power 50: 1

Ira Neaman and Rob Watson rise one spot on this year’s list as Counselor Top 40 supplier Vantage Apparel (asi/93390) continues to forge prominent partnerships with fellow suppliers and place a healthy investment into decoration and on-demand technology.

“Our goal is for Vantage to become known as the easiest apparel supplier to do business with,” Watson says. “That means seamless integrations, frictionless service and a consistent, reliable experience – whether you’re ordering one piece or 100,000.”

Since becoming CEO in late 2023, Watson and Vantage have struck a number of deals with industry companies. In 2024, Vantage launched an exclusive partnership with Redwood Classics Apparel (asi/81627), becoming the U.S. provider of the brand’s premium styles. This year, the two suppliers launched a custom color program, offering PMS color-matched apparel on orders as little as 300 pieces with turn times as short as six weeks. Other partnerships include Counselor Top 40 supplier Starline (asi/89320) and iClick (asi/62124), which became hard goods providers on Vantage’s e-commerce print-on-demand platform. This year, Vantage also integrated Counselor Top 40 supplier Cutter & Buck (asi/47965) into its Webstore platform.

Already among the largest embroiderers in North America, Neaman and Watson have tripled the company’s high-definition direct-to-film capacity and launched a new patch collection, bringing its total in-house apparel decoration techniques to 15.

Though tariffs were a challenge for the supplier, Watson says Vantage consciously decided to shield customers from the impact, implementing a modest increase on apparel and keeping decoration prices level to maintain stability in its program business. Concurrently, Vantage leaned into diversifying its supply chain and sourcing from countries with lower tariff exposure.

Sustainability and corporate responsibility have also been important for Vantage’s leaders. The supplier, which has a Bronze rating from EcoVadis, has recycled more than 1.8 million plastic water bottles, thanks to garments made with Repreve recycled polyester, and has donated more than $30,000 to Clean Ocean Action as part of its commitment to 1% for the Planet.