Rally Sock: show anchor Zany Side
Chef Chris Cosentino, known for offal dishes Incanto, a restaurant in San Francisco, recently into a new area: the design of the socks.
Mr. Cosentino called meat socks feet, such as Bologna, ham and soppressata modeled. "We have the meat salami in a single housing. Boxes are a bit like socks," says Cosentino, who works with fire eccentric beta online retailers. "How funny is that?"
There was a time when funny not sell socks. But these days, appear as tiny transmitter Socks Hosiery individual taste. A number of new brands and sock-small entrepreneurs like Mr. Cosentino in recent years has emerged, each of which a certain promising to meet customers.
Anglophile Upper Crust? Try Nigel Knox socks Nifty. Math Nerd? Argoz may have the formula perfect diamond. Simple elegance? Etiquette Clothiers has Italian combed cotton socks, cashmere and other mixtures. ANTIPAST, a Japanese brand, and Maria La Rosa, an Italian brand, women have described socks per pair of very as much as $ 90th Ozonesocks.com offers a number of special-interest socks, cats in danger of pretty flowers for between $ 6 and $ 25. Happy Socks has flooded the market with stripes, dots and zigzags in every color imaginable.
Patterns, eccentric or breeders were once more than creative. Nine years SockItToMe.com, a Portland, Oregon, sock supplier, expects to sell more than 5 million socks this year by more than 40% from 3.5 million euros in 2012, says founder and President Carrie Atkinson. Bestsellers of the company are now "all with a mustache, we can not keep them in stock," she said. Also popular: socks with jellyfish and Corgis. "People want some of their nervousness or weirdness to express," says
Ms. Atkinson.
Mass retailers meet the trend, too. On Gap.com this week were 30 different socks bright patterns available, including argyle, stripes large and small anchor with eight kinds of simple and crew socks in bright colors.
Driven in part by the brave new offers, sales of socks for men and women have risen. The sock sales rose 5.6% to $ 4.22 billion for the 12 months ended in April 2013, according to NPD Group. Men rush to socks in colorful patterns, available from specialty shops in particular can be bought. Sales of men's socks in specialized stores were up 39% in 2012.
Places of casual work are the reasons for this development of the personality of a sock. Since people are free to express themselves feel at work, press the edge in her fashion choices.
Also contribute to current fashion trends, the interest in the socks. For women, shorts, dresses and skirts with socks are a fashion combination, even if it has a schoolgirl connotation and works best for everyone under 30. The view of a pair of socks with Mary Janes vary paired 1940 Funky socks on the knee, often with stripes, polka dots or other reasons.
Pant in the past few seasons, that is to show more ankle. In addition, there are links, once the only place in the wardrobe, where a man can be in her pink polka dot, virtually disappeared from many offices. This makes it possible to take the ankle, as the ultimate developers.
"If you are in business, everyone on your shoes," says Cosentino, whose feet Betabrand.com meat will be launched in the coming weeks. "Creating question. And that creates a conversation." Nutty socks Or is it an ending: Mr. Cosentino has a pair of socks "big" it says that it "meetings, I will not go."
Socks, it seems, a clothing market is relatively easy to give: Do not break or damage have little in size and does not require a big investment for consumers. It was part of the call of Rick Peterson, Nigel Knox socks Nifty was eliminated in 2011 after his job at a clothing company launched. "I was in my 60s trying to find a job in a terrible economy," he said. "With a weak market is, the accessories were a place where I had the chance to gain some traction."
He presented socks in whimsical patterns like stripes and skulls pink and lime. Now socks are sold online and in 130 stores. "The world," Mr. Peterson said, "do not even black dress sock."
Called Dan Soha, a San Francisco entrepreneur and business angel online Argoz socks launched in January 2012, after complaining that he can not find a good argyle socks. Before starting Argoz he wrote an algorithm to Research sock on Google GOOG +0.38% search for keywords, study the words such as "Argyle" and "plaid" included. ("I'm still the biggest nerd in the room," he said.) In May 2011, a significant increase in the search for "socks" on Google gave him the courage to start Argoz.com. These days, sales were up 20% from month to month, he said.
Sometimes it's almost hard, all the earth used to be a no man's land nondescript sock market, to remember. Happy Socks, launched in 2008 to life, was born a dark day in Stockholm when Viktor Tell friends noticed his colorful socks pulled to lift the mood. "At the time, colorful socks, existed but were hard to find," Mr. Tell, co-founder and Creative Director of Happy Socks, wrote in an e-mail this week. Manufacturers initially balked at the notion of Happy Socks. He said, she laughed: "Kids Socks for Adults"
Nobody said dass for the closet comedian who wants to keep the ceiling in the office, fire, Beta socks that look normal from the ankle upwards. Remove shoes, and the joke is revealed. A cobra or a Rastafarian number of company calls a "beardymon" on the foot beta also offers fire "Insurance sock" with every pair it sells Losing a sock, send a photo. sad face keeps the sock remains: the San Francisco company replace for free.