An interview with Anil Kumar
Anil Kumar is a senior sourcing specialist for the outdoor sports brand Arc'teryx Equipment Inc, located in Vancouver, BC. His career in textiles, however, began half a world away and almost two decades ago.
After graduating as a textile engineer in India in 2009, Kumar progressed steadily through various roles in the industry.
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From a beginning in production, his interests led him to marketing and then to buying agencies. Kumar developed his knowledge of the global textile sourcing trade, of the materials brands are looking for, and of product requirements, especially for technical textiles used for the outdoor sports industry. Through trade shows and supplier relations, his commercial knowledge of the industry steadily increased. To gain stronger technical knowledge in product innovation and new technologies, Kumar studied at the University of Alberta where he obtained a Master’s degree. After working for a few years at Mountain Equipment Company, Kumar landed on his current role in January 2025.
In this relatively new role, Kumar can now look at sourcing from a more strategic perspective, including sourcing diversification, supply-chain risk, and capacity planning.
Anil Kumar, Arc'teryx Equipment Inc.
​“I thought it would be a valuable opportunity to broaden my experience, and I am continuing to learn a lot in this role.”
Beyond the role of simply purchasing textiles and trims, Kumar and his team also identify gaps in the supply chain, analyze and manage supplier capacity, support innovation, and perhaps most importantly maintain relationships with suppliers, whom Kumar sees as partners in development rather than simply suppliers. For Arc’teryx, quality is a major consideration and maintaining strong supplier relations helps to ensure quality requirements are met. Cost is another factor in sourcing, and compliance and environmental considerations are becoming increasingly important. The phase-out of PFAS chemistry is one example of this broader change in the industry. Another is the rise of textile-to-textile recycling, where used textiles are converted back into materials for new textile products. Increasingly this possibility influences designers to create monomaterial products, and the supply chain has to adapt to these needs.
In the age of digital communications, tele-presence and more powerful than ever 3D modeling tools, sourcing teams have to adapt their ways of working to this changing reality. This can be appealing to the younger generations coming up in this technological age, but Kumar advises on the value of a practical understanding of the materials.
“…focus on the fundamentals. Technologies and trends change over time, but understanding what a fiber is, what its properties are, how fabrics are made, and how materials behave will stay with you throughout your career.”
He also advises building connections with people in the industry. Networking remains very important and connections can help newcomers understand different career paths and opportunities and can sometimes even help to get interviews. Kumar notably praises the Institute of Textile Sciences as a valuable networking platform.
In his spare time, Kumar is an avid cyclist who’s toured many places around the world. He’s passionate about the outdoors and believes that as a user of the products, it helps him gain insights into their uses and this feedback helps develop better products.
Reach out to him on LinkedIn here: Anil Kumar.