Redwood Classics Builds CAMSC Certified Apparel

An average 70% of the raw material Redwood Classics Apparel uses is knit within 100 miles of its Toronto factory, according to the company’s own 10-year impact report. Kathy Cheng has run that supply chain since 2009, out of the same factory her father co-founded in 1988. Corporate buyers with supplier-diversity mandates keep coming back because her CAMSC certification and the factory floor behind it are the same address.

Meet Kathy Cheng, the maker behind Redwood Classics

Kathy Cheng immigrated to Toronto from Hong Kong with her father in 1978. In 1988, he co-founded WS & Co., a small garment factory that grew into a Toronto apparel manufacturer sewing for outside labels. By the late 1990s the factory employed more than 500 people across three Greater Toronto Area facilities, producing garments for brands including Roots and Holt Renfrew.

The 2008 recession cut that workforce fast. Cheng became her father’s business partner and restructured the company from around 100 people down to 40. Instead of chasing offshore labour costs, she built a new in-house brand rather than wait for outside orders to return. In January 2009 she became president and launched Redwood Classics as a retail-quality, made-in-Canada apparel line the factory could sell under its own name.

“With the cost of fuel rising, not everything made in China is that cheap anymore,” Cheng told Canadian Business in 2014, the same year she was named to the EY Entrepreneurial Winning Women class, a national network of high-growth women-led companies. She has run Redwood Classics out of that Toronto factory ever since, while much of the industry moved production offshore.

What Redwood Classics makes

Redwood Classics cuts and sews hoodies, crewnecks, T-shirts, sweatpants and fleece at the family’s Toronto factory, using flatlock stitching that weaves in an extra thread for durability. Garments arrive pre-shrunk or garment-washed so sizing holds up wash after wash. The Canada Co-Brand Series pairs the apparel with appliqued maple-leaf patches and flag decals sewn into the fabric rather than printed on top, built for buyers who want a Canadian identity that survives the dryer. An Upcycled Collection turns landfill-destined deadstock fabric from the factory floor into finished pieces instead of waste. Every order runs through the same building where the company has cut, sewn, dyed, washed, embroidered, screen printed and packed apparel for more than three decades.

The values built into every garment

Redwood Classics holds certification from the Canadian Aboriginal and Minority Supplier Council (CAMSC), Women Business Enterprise Canada Council (WBE Canada) and WEConnect International, and is a National Member of Canada’s LGBT+ Chamber of Commerce. Cheng has received CAMSC’s Special Recognition Award for her local procurement work during COVID-19 and a place on Inc. Magazine’s 100 Female Founders list.

The company’s impact report puts a number on what local sourcing does: an average 70% of the raw material it consumes is knit within 100 miles of the Toronto factory, which shortens the supply chain and cuts shipping emissions. Deadstock fabric that would otherwise be landfilled gets upcycled into new pieces rather than thrown out. During the pandemic, the factory pivoted to sewing fabric masks donated to health and community partners.

Nearly half of Redwood’s procurement spend supports other diverse-owned businesses in Ontario, including textile mills, embroiderers and knitters, a network Cheng says collectively supports around 110 local jobs. “Underrepresented suppliers are often hungry to prove themselves, and that’s exactly who you want to be working with,” she told Canadian Business in 2025.

How Redwood Classics works with corporate teams

Redwood Classics built its supplier-diversity relationships through CAMSC events and trade shows, where corporate members with formal diversity-procurement mandates look for certified suppliers. Through that network, Redwood secured contracts with CAMSC corporate members and sponsors, including BMO, TD Canada Trust and RBC, whose procurement teams can count the spend toward their own supplier-diversity targets. RBC, a CAMSC corporate member, became Redwood’s banking partner after Cheng connected with a bank representative at a CAMSC event.

Corporate buyers can put branding on Redwood’s stock apparel through embroidery, screen printing or private labeling, all handled in the same Toronto factory that cuts and sews the garment. The Canada Co-Brand Series adds appliqued maple-leaf and flag details as a standing option for buyers who want a patriotic finish without a custom production run. Cheng has said she asks corporate clients directly why they would put a brand on an inferior garment when a longer-lasting, higher-quality one costs about the same once landed costs are compared fairly.

Buyers who need diversity-spend documentation get it built in. The CAMSC certification appears on Redwood’s product tags, invoices and even email signatures, which Cheng has said gives procurement teams an easy way to confirm the spend counts toward their supplier-diversity goals before the purchase order is signed.

Three ways to gift Redwood Classics

• Onboarding kits. A Canada Co-Brand hoodie or crewneck, sewn-in maple-leaf patch included, for a new hire’s first week.
• Client thank-you gifts. A private-labeled quarter-zip or crewneck that ships with the CAMSC certification story attached.
• Team event favours. Matching Canada Co-Brand crewnecks for a company retreat, offsite or Canada Day event.
• Holiday boxes. Fleece pieces from the Upcycled Collection, cut from deadstock fabric the factory would otherwise send to landfill.

Frequently asked questions

Is Redwood Classics apparel made in Canada?

Yes. Every piece is cut, sewn, dyed, washed and finished at the company’s Toronto factory, the same building Kathy Cheng’s father co-founded in 1988.

Can we add our company logo?

Yes. Redwood Classics offers embroidery, screen printing and private labeling on its stock apparel, plus a standing Canada Co-Brand option with sewn-in maple-leaf and flag details.

What order quantities work for a corporate buyer?

Redwood Classics doesn’t publish a fixed minimum. The factory handles both in-stock resale orders and larger corporate runs with embroidery or screen printing, so the right quantity depends on the product and finish; a Butterfly specialist can confirm minimums for your project.

Does buying from Redwood Classics count toward our supplier-diversity goals?

Yes, for procurement programs that recognize CAMSC. Redwood Classics is CAMSC certified, plus certified through WBE Canada and WEConnect International, and CAMSC corporate members including BMO, TD Canada Trust and RBC have sourced from Redwood specifically to meet supplier-diversity mandates.

Kathy Cheng turned a struggling family factory into a supplier corporate buyers can point to as proof their diversity spend is real. The CAMSC certification on the tag and the Toronto address on the shipping label are the same story.