Under the direction of Smith, chief executive officer of the Andover, Mass.based fabric producer, Polartec went from the verge of liquidation to a profitable business that provides active and outdoor brands — and now luxury fashion labels — with a variety of performance fabrics.
Its most recent innovation is Power Air, a fabric that cuts down on shedding in synthetic fleece that hit the market this winter exclusively in Adidas products and has started rolling out to other brands.
As a result of the turnaround, Polartec’s private equity owners have “begun an active process to sell the company,” Smith said. While nothing is imminent, having private equity investors makes it inevitable a sale will happen. “It took a long time to turn this thing around,” the ceo admitted.