5 questions with Rachel Newman

Rachel Newman joined L.A.T. Apparel in March 2024 as chief commercial officer and has served as president since October 2025. In this role, she has led the redesign of the Live & Tell and Rabbit Skins brands, relaunching them as lifestyle brands with fresh, consumer-led imagery and a bold new retail presence at Hobby Lobby and Michael’s. Much of L.A.T.’s recent growth has been fueled by a modern design aesthetic that keeps Live & Tell ahead of the curve, and Newman’s design-forward focus has continued to sharpen the brand’s point of view, giving it a distinct, on-trend identity.

1. You oversaw printwear at a large company before coming to L.A.T. How will that shape your priorities as president?

There are a lot of benefits to being big (resources, etc.) — but there are also many challenges. The biggest challenge is the ability to be agile. By maintaining strong partnerships that spread across the globe, L.A.T. can be agile in our production and not be firmly committed in a single area. We also have the agility to pack our programs in unique ways. We can do the high-touch, customized packing that breaks the giants. We can be nimble and reconfigure packing stations that can allow for us to provide shorter turnaround time.

2. How does L.A.T. make sure decorators can count on getting what they need, when they need it?

Amazon has influenced delivery patterns in our personal lives and this has impacted the business world as well. Customers order much closer into their needs, so we understand that if we don’t have a product they will have to move on because they don’t have time to wait. L.A.T. has a great supply chain with significantly long-standing partnerships that allow for flexibility when we need it.  

3. Rabbit Skins has a strong niche in infant blanks. What should decorators know about doing that category?

I love our Rabbit Skins line! There’s so much to it, from the technology to our in-depth Consumer Product Safety compliancy, to the fashion aspects we’ve introduced over the years. The biggest point of differentiation for Rabbit Skins is trust. Our customers know the challenges in infant and toddler categories — especially related to safety — and they love Rabbit Skins because they don’t have to worry about safety concerns. We do all that work for them.

4. Heavyweight, premium blanks are having a moment. From a decoration standpoint, what changes for a shop moving upmarket?

I think people often box this category in to more of a street/skater/surf perspective. However, we thought about it broader in looking at an upscale corporate view. Because of the weight in these fabrics, you can often do more with them. They hold embroidery very nice, can take on heavier patches/transfers, and embossing looks beautiful on these fabrics. Because of the more detailed embellishment, it can lead to higher margin opportunities for printers.

I would say people do need to think more broadly about this category — from skate to collegiate/resort to corporate. There really is a lot of opportunity.

5. Between cotton prices, tariffs, and freight, blank costs have been a moving target. What’s your advice for a small shop?

In times of higher volatility, I think it’s important to make sure to quote closer to the job, as well as having shorter price guarantee windows. This isn’t always the case because sometimes you have customers that you hold prices for, and that’s where transparency comes into play. Make sure you keep them up to speed on market discussions — for example, oil futures impact not only freight expenses, but it’s also a basis of polyester.

Not having these conversations can be very detrimental to your overall business if your costs are increasing. Be transparent with customers and try to find ways to make the process between you and that customer more efficient to cut out costs. That customer is likely having conversations with other suppliers — so transparency is important. It takes the discussion from a transaction to a partnership that they want to work with in the future because they know you’ll be there for the long haul.