Our postretirement benefits, pension and deferred compensation plans result in substantial liabilities on our balance sheet. These plans and activities have generated, and will generate, substantial cash requirements for us, and these requirements may increase beyond our expectations in future years based on changing market conditions. The difference between plan obligations and assets, or the funded status of the plans, is a significant factor in determining the net periodic benefit costs of our pension plans and the ongoing funding requirements of those plans. Many variables, such as changes in interest rates, mortality rates, health care costs, investment returns or the market value of plan assets, can affect the funded status of our defined benefit pension and other postretirement, and postemployment benefit plans and cause volatility in the net periodic benefit cost and future funding requirements of the plans. Plan liabilities may impair our liquidity, have an unfavorable impact on our ability to obtain financing and place us at a competitive disadvantage compared to some of our competitors who do not have such liabilities and cash requirements. See Note 10 to the consolidated financial statements for more information regarding these obligations.

We import materials and finished garments into all of our operating regions. Our ability to import products in a timely and cost-effective manner may be affected by conditions at ports or issues that otherwise affect transportation and warehousing providers, such as port and shipping capacity, energy costs, labor disputes and work stoppages, political unrest, security incidents, severe weather or security requirements in the United States and other countries. These issues could delay importation of products or require us to locate alternative ports or warehousing providers to avoid disruption to our customers. These alternatives may not be available on short notice or could result in higher transportation costs, which could have an adverse impact on our business and financial condition, specifically our gross margin and overall profitability. Substantially all of our import operations are subject to complex trade and customs laws, regulations and tax requirements such as sanctions orders or tariffs set by governments through mutual agreements or unilateral actions. In addition, the countries in which our products are manufactured or imported may from time to time impose additional duties, tariffs or other restrictions on our imports or adversely modify existing restrictions. For example, the U.S. government has imposed tariffs on goods imported from China in connection with China's intellectual property practices and forced technology transfer. Currently, of the products that we sell in the United States, approximately 1% are manufactured in China. Adverse changes in import costs and restrictions, including tariffs, or the failure by us or our suppliers to comply with trade regulations or similar laws, could harm our business. In this regard, the increasingly protectionist trade policy in the United States has introduced greater uncertainty with respect to future tax and trade regulations. If additional tariffs or trade restrictions are implemented by the United States or other countries in connection with a global trade war, the cost of our products manufactured in China or other countries and imported into the United States or other countries could increase, which in turn could adversely affect the demand for these products and have an adverse effect on our business and results of operations.

We experience moderate fluctuations in aggregate sales volume during the year. Historically, revenues in our fourth fiscal quarter has slightly exceeded those in our other three fiscal quarters. In addition, our customers and consumers may cancel orders, change delivery schedules, or change the mix of products ordered with minimal notice. As a result, we may not be able to accurately predict our quarterly sales. Accordingly, our results of operations are likely to fluctuate significantly from period to period. These factors, along with other factors that are beyond our control, such as social or political unrest, pandemics, general economic conditions, changes in consumer preferences, weather conditions, the effects of climate change, the availability of import quotas, transportation disruptions and foreign currency exchange rate fluctuations, could adversely affect our business and cause our quarterly results of operations to fluctuate.

One of our key strategic priorities is our "DTC First" strategy, which includes our plan to become a leading world-class omni-channel retailer by expanding our consumer reach in brand-dedicated stores globally, including making selective investments in company-operated stores and e-commerce sites, and other brand-dedicated store models. In many locations, we face major, established retail competitors that may be able to better attract consumers and execute their retail strategies. In addition, a retail operating model involves substantial ongoing investments in equipment and property, information systems, inventory and personnel. Due to the high fixed-cost structure associated with these investments, a decline in sales or the closure of or poor performance of stores, including as a result of general declines in the macroeconomic environment, could result in significant costs and impacts to our margins and impairment charges. Our ability to grow our retail channel also depends on the availability and cost of real estate that meets our criteria for foot traffic, square footage, demographics and other factors. Failure to identify and secure adequate new locations, or failure to effectively manage the profitability of the fleet of stores, could have an adverse effect on our results of operations. In addition, our investments in consumer, digital, and omni-channel shopping initiatives may not deliver the results we anticipate. These initiatives involve significant investments in IT systems, data science and artificial intelligence initiatives, and significant operational changes. Our competitors are also investing in omni-channel initiatives, some of which may be more successful than our initiatives. If the implementation of our consumer, digital and omni-channel initiatives is not successful, or we do not realize the return on our investments in these initiatives that we anticipate, our operating results would be adversely affected.

We extend credit to our customers based on an assessment of a customer's financial condition, generally without requiring collateral. To assist in the scheduling of production and the shipping of our products, we offer certain customers the opportunity to place orders five to six months ahead of delivery under our futures ordering program. These advance orders have in the past and may in the future be canceled under certain conditions, and the risk of cancellation may increase when dealing with financially unstable retailers or retailers struggling with economic uncertainty. In the past, some customers have experienced financial difficulties up to and including bankruptcies, which have had an adverse effect on our sales, our ability to collect on receivables and our financial condition. When the retail economy weakens or as consumer behavior shifts, retailers may be more cautious with orders. A slowing or changing economy in our key markets could adversely affect the financial health of our customers, which in turn could have an adverse effect on our results of operations and financial condition. In addition, product sales are dependent in part on high quality merchandising and an appealing retail environment to attract consumers, which requires continuing investments by retailers. Retailers that experience financial difficulties may fail to make such investments or delay them, resulting in lower sales and orders for our products. The ongoing financial uncertainty, particularly for retailers, could also have an effect on our sales, our ability to collect on receivables and our financial condition.

A significant portion of our revenues and earnings are generated internationally. In addition, a substantial amount of our products comes from sources outside the country of distribution. As a result, we are both directly and indirectly (through our suppliers) subject to the risks of doing business outside the United States, including: - currency fluctuations, which have impacted our results of operations significantly in recent years, including fiscal year 2022;- political, economic and social instability;- changes in tariffs and taxes;- inflationary pressures;- regulatory restrictions on our ability to operate in our preferred manner;- rapidly changing regulatory restrictions and requirements, including in the areas of data privacy, sustainability and responses to climate change, which could result in regulatory uncertainty as well as potential significant increases in compliance costs; and - less protective foreign laws relating to intellectual property. For example, the ongoing conflict between Russia and Ukraine has caused and continues to cause disruption, instability and volatility in global markets. We suspended our business initiatives and the majority of our commercial activity in Russia and Ukraine in the second quarter of 2022, and we deemed the carrying value of certain related long-lived assets to be not recoverable. As of the end of the first quarter of 2023, all of our company-operated stores have closed and substantially all commercial activity in Russia has ceased. The U.S. and foreign government bodies in jurisdictions in which we operate have announced and threatened additional targeted sanctions and export control measures, which have resulted in and could in the future result in, among other things, severe or complete restrictions on exports to and other commerce and business dealings involving Russia, certain regions of Ukraine or particular entities and individuals, including in Belarus. The ongoing impact of these government measures, as well as any further retaliatory actions taken by Russia, the U.S. and foreign government bodies, is uncertain and could adversely affect our business, results of operations, supply chain, intellectual property, partners, customers or employees and may expose us to adverse legal proceedings in Russia in the future. The conflict has caused and may continue to cause adverse global economic conditions resulting from escalating geopolitical tensions, the exclusion of Russian financial institutions from the global banking system, volatility and fluctuations in foreign currency exchange rates and interest rates, inflationary pressures, supply chain and logistics disruptions and heightened cybersecurity threats. Although our operations in Russia were not significant, the conflict has resulted in broader economic and security concerns, including in other geographies, which has adversely affected and may continue to adversely affect our business, financial condition or results of operations. Although our operations in the region are not significant, the recent crisis related to the Israel-Hamas war is also a source of uncertainty. The conflict could grow and bring about disruption, instability and volatility in global markets, supply chains and logistics operations, such as recent shipping disruptions in the Red Sea and surrounding waterways, which could in turn adversely affect our business operations and financial performance. The functional currency for most of our foreign operations is the applicable local currency. As a result, fluctuations in foreign currency exchange rates affect the results of our operations and the value of our foreign assets and liabilities, including debt, which in turn may adversely affect results of operations and cash flows and the comparability of period-to-period results of operations. Changes in foreign currency exchange rates also affect the relative prices at which we and competitors sell products in the same market. Foreign governmental policies and actions regarding currency valuation could result in actions by the United States and other countries to offset the effects of such fluctuations. The unpredictability and volatility of foreign currency exchange rates has adversely impacted our businesses and financial results and ongoing or unusual volatility may continue to adversely impact us. Furthermore, due to our global operations, we are subject to numerous domestic and foreign laws and regulations affecting our business, such as those related to labor, employment, worker health and safety, antitrust and competition, environmental protection, consumer protection, privacy, and anti-corruption, including but not limited to the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (the "FCPA") and the U.K. Bribery Act. We have put into place policies and procedures for our employees, contractors, and agents aimed at ensuring legal and regulatory compliance. Violations of these regulations could subject us to criminal or civil enforcement actions, any of which could have an adverse effect on our business.

The COVID-19 pandemic negatively impacted the global economy, disrupted consumer spending and global supply chains and created significant volatility and disruption of financial markets. The COVID-19 pandemic has had an adverse impact on our business and financial performance, including: the temporary closing of our corporate office and other facilities; the temporary closing a significant number of our stores globally, particularly in China; the temporary or permanent closing of the stores of many of our customers, including significant customers in our wholesale and franchise distribution channels, and a resulting decrease in revenues; a decrease in foot traffic to our and our customers' stores; a decrease in consumer spending, consumer confidence and sales of our products; vessel, container and other transportation shortages; labor shortages; port congestion globally; and other supply chain and logistics disruptions. Despite the availability of COVID-19 vaccines, the pandemic continues to evolve, with resurgences and outbreaks occurring in various parts of the world, including those resulting from variants of the virus, and it may continue to adversely impact and cause disruptions to our business in the future. A future pandemic, including the emergence of new COVID-19 variants, poses a risk to our business and financial performance, including our ability to execute our near-term and long-term business strategies and initiatives in the expected time frame. The extent of the impact of a pandemic or other health crisis on our business will depend on several factors, including the duration, spread and severity of the pandemic or health crisis, which are uncertain and cannot be predicted, and on the requirements to take action to help limit the spread of the illness and the availability, widespread distribution and acceptance of vaccines and treatments for the pandemic. Other factors that could negatively affect our business, operations and financial performance in the future and prevent us, our employees, customers, vendors and manufacturers from conducting business activities for an indefinite period of time during a pandemic, epidemic, health crisis or any future outbreak of any highly infectious or contagious disease, include, but are not limited to: - government mandates, guidance or recommendations regarding future shutdowns or closure requirements;- other future operational restrictions and delays;- any recession or inflationary pressures, resulting directly or indirectly, from the pandemic;- delays in inventory orders and, in turn, delays in deliveries to our wholesale customers and a decrease in availability in our company-operated stores and e-commerce sites;- a decrease in productivity or other disruptions in our business due to our hybrid work from home policy;- an increased reliance by those working offsite on residential communication networks and internet providers, which may be more susceptible to service interruptions and cyberattacks and, thus, could result in an increase in phishing and other scams, fraud, money laundering, theft and other criminal activity;- a disruption, including a worker shortage, in or the temporary or permanent closing of the factories that manufacture our products, the distribution centers where we manage our inventory or the operations of our logistics and other service providers;- a decrease in available raw materials;- carrier constraints due to an increase in digital sales;- a future decision by management to restrict operations or close stores to protect the health and safety of our employees, consumers and communities;- other threats to the health of our employees;- an increase in health care costs, resulting directly or indirectly, from the pandemic; and - negative general macroeconomic conditions. These factors, among others, may negatively impact sales in our stores and our e-commerce channel and may cause our wholesale customers to purchase fewer products from us. Any significant reduction in consumer visits to, or spending at, our and our customers' stores caused, directly or indirectly, by COVID-19 or any other pandemic, and any continued decreased spending at stores or online caused by decreased consumer confidence and spending, would result in a loss of sales and profits and, as a result, adversely impact our financial results.

As a multinational corporation with operations and distribution channels throughout the world, we are subject to and must comply with extensive laws and regulations in the United States and other jurisdictions in which we have operations and distribution channels. If we or our employees, agents, suppliers and other partners fail or are alleged to have failed to comply with any of these laws or regulations, we could be subjected to regulatory investigations or enforcement, lawsuits (including class actions), fines, sanctions or other penalties that could negatively affect our reputation, business, financial condition and results of operations. Furthermore, laws, regulations and policies and the interpretation of such, can conflict among jurisdictions and compliance in one jurisdiction may result in legal or reputational risks in another jurisdiction. We are or may become involved in various types of claims, lawsuits (including class actions), regulatory proceedings and government investigations relating to our business, our products and the actions of our employees and representatives, including contractual and employment relationships, product liability, antitrust, privacy and data protection, trademark and other intellectual property rights and a variety of other matters. It is not possible to predict with certainty the outcome of any such legal or regulatory proceedings or investigations, and we could in the future incur judgments, fines or penalties, or enter settlements of lawsuits and claims that could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations and negatively impact our reputation. The global nature of our business means legal and compliance risks, such as anti-bribery, anti-corruption, fraud, trade, environmental, competition, privacy, and other regulatory matters, will continue to exist and additional legal proceedings and other contingencies will arise from time to time, which could adversely affect us. In addition, the adoption of new laws or regulations, or changes in the interpretation of existing laws or regulations, may result in significant unanticipated legal and reputational risks. Any current or future legal or regulatory proceedings could divert management's attention from our operations and result in substantial legal fees.

In the ordinary course of our business, we may collect, store, use, transmit, disclose or otherwise process proprietary confidential and sensitive data, including personal information, intellectual property, and trade secrets, and we rely upon third parties (such as service providers) for data processing-related activities. As a result, we and the third parties upon which we rely face a variety of evolving threats, including but not limited to ransomware attacks, security breaches, cyber-attacks or other malicious activities by hackers, criminal groups, nation-states and nation-state-sponsored organizations and social-activist organizations, computer viruses or other malicious codes, unauthorized access, phishing attacks, or unauthorized uses, any of which may be irreversible and result in operational problems and security incidents. Given the nature of information collected and processed, the retail industry in particular has been the target of many cyber-attacks, and it is possible that an individual or group could defeat our security measures, or those of a third-party service provider. We have been and will continue to be a target of cyber-attacks because of the visibility of our brand, making the secure maintenance of proprietary, confidential and sensitive data critical to our business and reputation. In the future, we may see an increase in the number of such attacks as we have shifted to a hybrid working model under which some employees will continue working remotely and accessing our technology infrastructure remotely. We are heavily dependent on information technology systems and networks, including the Internet, third-party services and artificial intelligence, across our supply chain, including product design, production, forecasting, ordering, manufacturing, transportation, sales, and distribution, as well as for processing financial information for external and internal reporting purposes, retail operations and other business activities. These information technology systems are critical to many of our operating activities and our business processes and may be negatively impacted by any security incident, service interruption or shutdown. Over the last several years, we have been implementing and continue to implement modifications and upgrades to our systems, including making changes to legacy systems, replacing legacy systems with successor systems with new functionality and acquiring new systems with new functionality. For example, over the next several years, we plan to continue the process of implementing a new ERP system across the company with implementation in the United States completed in 2023 and Europe scheduled for fiscal year 2025. Additionally, we are building new distribution and fulfillment facilities which are highly automated and utilize industry leading technology and equipment. Our ability to effectively manage and maintain our inventory and to ship products to customers on a timely basis depends significantly on the reliability of these systems, and we cannot assure that implementing these modifications and upgrades will in the future prevent or protect against all technological problems and security issues or bring about the desired efficiencies and synergies to our operations. Furthermore, our efforts to address undesirable activity on our platforms may also increase the risk of retaliatory attack. Our work to integrate, secure and enhance these systems and related processes in our global operations is ongoing and we will continue to invest in these efforts. We may expend significant resources or modify our business activities to try to protect against security incidents. We facilitate training programs for employees to raise awareness about data privacy, phishing, malware and other cyber risks. We also perform simulations and drills at both a technical and leadership level periodically. Certain data privacy and security obligations may require us to implement and maintain specific security measures or industry-standard or reasonable or appropriate security measures to protect our information technology systems and sensitive information. We cannot provide assurance, however, that the measures we take to secure and enhance these systems will be sufficient to prevent security incidents, cyber-attacks, system failures or data or information loss. Cyber-attacks, malicious internet-based activity and online and offline fraud are prevalent and continue to increase in frequency and magnitude. The techniques used to obtain unauthorized, improper or illegal access to our systems, our data or our customers' data, to disable or degrade service or to sabotage systems are constantly evolving, have become increasingly complex and sophisticated, may be difficult to detect quickly and often are not recognized until launched against a target, even if we take all reasonable precautions, including to the extent required by law. In addition to traditional computer "hackers," threat actors, personnel (such as through theft or misuse), sophisticated nation-states and nation-state supported actors and social-activist organizations now engage in attacks. We have and may continue to be subject to a variety of evolving threats, including but not limited to social engineering, such as phishing, malicious code (such as viruses and worms), malware (including as a result of advanced persistent threat intrusions), denial-of-service attacks (such as credential stuffing), personnel misconduct or error, supply-chain attacks, software bugs, server malfunctions and large-scale, complex automated attacks that can evade detection for long periods of time. Future or past business transactions (such as acquisitions or integrations) could expose us to additional cybersecurity risks and vulnerabilities, as our systems could be negatively affected by vulnerabilities present in acquired or integrated entities' systems and technologies. Ransomware attacks, including those perpetrated by organized criminal threat actors, nation-states and nation-state supported actors and social-activist organizations, are becoming increasingly prevalent and severe and can lead to significant interruptions in our operations, loss of data and income, reputational harm and diversion of funds. In addition, such incidents could result in unauthorized disclosure and misuse of material confidential information, including personal information. Extortion payments may alleviate the negative impact of a ransomware attack, but we may be unwilling or unable to make such payments due to, for example, applicable laws or regulations prohibiting such payments. Any unauthorized access of our or our service providers' information technology systems or networks may result in the loss of confidential business and financial data, misappropriation of our consumers', users' or employees' personal information or a disruption of our business. Any of these outcomes could have a material adverse effect on our business, including unwanted media attention, impairment of our consumer and customer relationships, damage to our reputation, resulting in lost sales, fines, lawsuits (including class actions), government enforcement actions (for example, investigations, fines, penalties, audits and inspections) or significant legal and remediation expenses. We also may need to expend significant resources to protect against, respond to or redress problems caused by any unauthorized processing. The failure of our information technology systems and networks to operate effectively, including as a result of the threats described above as well as a result of natural disasters, vendor business interruptions or other causes, failure to properly maintain, protect, repair or upgrade systems, or problems with transitioning to upgraded or replacement systems could cause delays in product fulfillment and reduced efficiency of our operations, could require significant capital investments to remediate the problem which may not be sufficient to cover all eventualities, and may have an adverse effect on our reputation, results of operations and financial condition. In addition, the increased use of employee-owned devices for communications, as well as work-from-home arrangements, present additional operational risks to our information technology systems, including, but not limited to, increased risks of cyber-attacks. Our software or information technology systems, or that of third parties upon whom we rely to operate our business, may have material vulnerabilities and, despite our efforts to identify and remediate these vulnerabilities, our efforts may not be successful or we may experience delays in developing and deploying remedial measures designed to address any such identified vulnerabilities. It may be expensive and time-consuming to remediate material vulnerabilities, and our operations, reputation, sales and financial performance may be adversely impacted if we are not able to successfully and promptly remediate such vulnerabilities. Further, like other companies in the retail industry, we have in the past experienced, and we expect to continue to experience, cyber-attacks, including phishing, and other attempts to breach, or gain unauthorized access to, our systems. For example, in 2023, several of our third-party service providers that relied on Pension Benefits Information LLC were impacted by the CL0P (a third party criminal group) cyber-attack on Progress Software's MOVEit Transfer product (a file-transfer application). Though this incident did not directly impact our systems or controls, the cyber-attack resulted in delivery of data breach notifications to a significant number of our current and former employees. Upon discovery of the vulnerability, we worked with our third-party service providers to review their security controls in an effort to prevent future similar cyber-attacks in the future. However, despite these efforts, we cannot provide assurance that these and other attacks will not have an impact in the future. Actual or perceived vulnerabilities or data breaches may lead to claims sanctions against us, subject us to investigations or liability, may compromise our reputation, diminish the value of our brands and discourage use of our websites. We also use information technology systems to process financial information and results of operations for internal reporting purposes and to comply with regulatory financial reporting, legal and tax requirements. If these systems suffer severe damage, disruption or shutdown and our incident response or business continuity plans, or those of our vendors, do not effectively resolve the issues in a timely manner, we could experience delays in reporting our financial results, which could result in lost revenues and profits, as well as reputational damage. Furthermore, we depend on information technology systems and personal information collection for digital marketing, digital commerce, consumer engagement and the marketing and use of our digital products and services. We also rely on our ability to engage in electronic communications throughout the world between and among our employees as well as with other third parties, including customers, suppliers, vendors and consumers. Any interruption in information technology systems may impede our ability to engage in the digital space and result in lost revenues, damage to our reputation and loss of users. Our contracts may not contain limitations of liability, and even where they do, there can be no assurance that limitations of liability in our contracts are sufficient to protect us from liabilities, damages or claims related to our data privacy and security obligations. We cannot be sure that our insurance coverage will be adequate or sufficient to protect us from or to mitigate liabilities arising out of our privacy and security practices, that such coverage will continue to be available on commercially reasonable terms or at all or that such coverage will pay future claims. The successful assertion of one or more large claims against us that exceeds available insurance coverage or the occurrence of changes in our insurance policies, including premium increases or the imposition of large deductible or co-insurance requirements, could adversely affect our business, reputation, results of operations and financial condition.