Behind the Scenes: Turning the Mill into a Movie Set for a Day

Back in 2004, we started Darn Tough with a promise. Knit the toughest socks and back every pair with the industry’s first Lifetime Guarantee.

Times were tough, but we buckled down to stay in Vermont, where Marc Cabot had been knitting socks since 1978. His son Ric took out another mortgage to keep the Mill running; our staff knit the first lifetime guaranteed sock, and Darn Tough was born.

Decades later, we’re still knitting socks right here in Vermont, USA, with the highest quality yarns from America and around the world. We’re still backing them with our Unconditional Lifetime Guarantee. It may look a little different, but our commitment, our mission, remains the same.

Knitting socks in Vermont by Vermonters is our story. We are the Mill. And this year, we knew it was time to make a video celebrating that.

There was no question that this would be shot at our Mill in Northfield, the first place a Darn Tough sock was ever knit. From there, the yarn ball got rolling...

BTS: Behind the Sheep

First, let’s address the sheep in the room. Yes, those are real sheep you see in the video. Real Vermont sheep.

You see, when we first received the script for this video, there was mention of having sheep on set. Whether that mention meant fake sheep or not is irrelevant. Once the idea of having real sheep walking around the Mill got in our heads, well we couldn’t really shake it. So, we ran with it.

We Know a Guy

In Vermont, you usually know “a guy,” or a friend of a friend knows “a guy.” But in our case that “guy” just so happened to be Courtney, our Marketing Communications Manager.

Courtney’s neighbors own a small herd of sheep. If you consider 60 sheep a small herd. The sheep talent backstory begins with a knock on their door and her internal monologue, “Please, don’t think I’m crazy.”

Luckily, Courtney’s neighbors Katlyn and Nick are our kind of tough. The kind that had professional portraits of each sheep ready to go for us to make talent selections. If we were truly in the business of sheep casting, we’d leave a five-star review, but for now, we’ll keep our sheep plug under wraps.

The Talent: Iggy and Arctic

Yes, there was a talent selection committee for the sheep, led by Emily, our Vice President of Marketing.

She isn’t new to making talent selections for animals. We’d consider her a pro at this point, after she cast a falcon and dog in our Darn It Campaign. She might be an animal whisperer… We’ll report back when confirmed.

As for the sheep perspective — they weren’t taking any questions at this time. After all, Iggy and Arctic are celebrities.

A sheep in the Mill, it feels full circle. And it was. It brought added energy to the Mill floor on production day. At many moments there seemed to be a line forming to pet the sheep. Some even managed to get a few selfies. And the marketing team managed to snap a group photo with the celebs.

For the most part, work at the Mill was business as usual and filming went smoothly... with just the casual sheep or two trotting around eating the set plants.

Meet the Cast. Spoiler: They’re Our Staff.

We take any chance we get to highlight our staff. So, when role call came around, we knew a few folks right for the job. There are, of course, some professional actors who booked the gig. Hey, it’s harder than it looks to speak, emote, move, hit marks, you know... act. But we have some famous personalities around the Mill who we couldn’t resist putting in the spotlight.

To fill the roles in our Quality Control scene, we asked Marc, Kris, and Bridget to help us out. We couldn’t not include our CEO Ric, nor did we need to hire wardrobe. He came appropriately dressed in his classic flannel uniform; it is Vermont after all. And when we needed someone to deliver our “behind it” joke, we put Travis at the helm.

Marc C.

The man with the clipboard? That’s Marc. A Vermont staple and Cabot Hosiery Mills' founding father, Marc Cabot has spent 47 years in the sock business. These days, you’ll still find him on the Mill floor inspecting socks, just like he did from the start. There's a good chance he's inspected the pair you're wearing right now.

Kris M.

Kris, alternatively known as the Mayor of Northfield, is a Shift Manufacturing Manager at our Northfield Mill, but that doesn't quite cover it. Mentor feels closer. Raised in a blue-collar family business, he learned early that going farther means going together. Around here, he'd rather count heart than headcount.

Bridget K.

Around the Northfield Mill, Bridget's known as the people's cheerleader. As a Shift Manufacturing Manager, she makes sure no one gets left behind. Whether she's helping navigate a big change on the Mill floor or making sure there's a gluten-free option at the company cookout, she pays attention to the details that make a difference.

Travis M.

Travis worked his way up from the knitting floor to Knitting Supervisor, earning the kind of respect that comes from doing the work firsthand. No fluff, no nonsense — just a focus on listening to others and making things better. Travis believes the job is never finished because we have yet to produce our best sock.

Ric C.

The man, the myth, the Darn Tough legend. Not to put it too lightly, but this man is responsible for keeping our manufacturing in Vermont. Keeping people in Vermont.

If you've ever received an email from him, you've probably noticed the sign-off: #WAW. Short for "We All Win," it's more than a personal hashtag. It's a reflection of how he leads. Because when you believe that the best socks in the world are made by the best people in the world, success isn't individual. We All Win.

Some Closing Thoughts

It’s not every day you get to feel like you’re on a movie set. Okay, a video set. But filming in our original Mill felt big time, and a little like coming home.

We’ve grown a lot since 2004. Today, Darn Tough includes two Vermont Mills, a corporate office, and hundreds of people dedicated to making the best socks in the world. Yet everything still starts in the same place: with the people on our Mill floor.

Being able to film right in the middle of the action, where every sock begins, fills us with an incredible sense of pride. We've grown a lot over the years, but the reason we can keep making the world's best socks hasn't changed. It starts with our people.

“We have the best people in the world,” Ric says. “And that’s why we’re able to produce the world’s best socks.”

We Make One Thing and We Make It Better Than Anyone Else.

Being able to see that commitment in action and share it with the world is an honor. And so is sharing these sheep.