July 20, 1998





Mr. Jerald S. Politzer
Salant Corporation
1114 Avenue of the Americas
New York, New York 10036

Dear Jerry:

         Reference  is  hereby  made to the  Employment  Agreement  ("Employment
Agreement"),  dated March 20, 1997  between  yourself as the employee and Salant
Corporation ("Salant").

         We have mutually agreed to amend the Employment  Agreement effective as
of the date of this letter as follows:

         1. The third  sentence of Section 3(b) of the  Employment  Agreement is
hereby deleted in its entirety and substituted with the following therefore:

                "For the 1997  Fiscal  Year,  the  Employee  shall  receive as a
         minimum  the bonus  amount  provided  in  Paragraph  A of Exhibit 1. In
         addition,  as part of the Management  Retention Program  established in
         1998 (the "1998 MRP"),  for the 1998 Fiscal  Year,  and no other fiscal
         year  thereafter,  the Employee  shall receive as a minimum,  the bonus
         amount provided in Paragraph A of Exhibit 1, provided that the Employee
         maintains his employment with the Corporation  until February 15, 1999,
         other  than  pursuant  to a  termination  of the  Employment  Period as
         described in Sections 6(d) or 6(e).

         2. Section 6(d) (iii) is hereby deleted in its entirety and substituted
with the following therefore:

                  "pro-rated  Bonus  for the  Fiscal  Year in which  termination
         occurs,  payable in accordance with Section 3(b), and any Bonus for the
         Fiscal Year earned but not yet paid,  including without  limitation the
         entire 1998 MRP,  payable in a lump sum within  fifteen (15) days after
         the Termination Date."

         Except as  specifically  set forth  herein,  the  Employment  Agreement
remains in full force and effect and is hereby ratified, confirmed and approved.
The  Employment  Agreement as modified by this letter is the only agreement that
governs the term of your employment. All other Letter Agreements and memorandums
are hereby null and void.

         If the foregoing correctly sets forth our mutual agreement, please sign
and return to me the three attached copies of this letter.

                                                     Very truly yours,

                                                     SALANT CORPORATION



                                                     By_________________________
                                                       Todd Kahn
                                                       Executive Vice President,
                                                       General Counsel and
                                                       Secretary


Accepted and Agreed to


By______________________
  Jerald S. Politzer