A sock is a piece of clothing made of soft material, covering the foot or lower leg and absorbing sweat from the feet. It is typically made of cotton, wool, or nylon and is available in a variety of colors, sizes, and materials to meet the customer’s needs. Based on the product, the socks market is divided into casual, formal, athletic, specialty, and others.
North America, Europe, Asia Pacific, Latin America, the Middle East, and Africa are the major regional markets for socks. With a growing global population, the global socks market is expected to expand. The growing health and fitness industry is also driving the socks market.
The international socks marketplace is predicted to show off a CAGR of 5.2% during 2022-2027. Global socks market growth is driven by people’s growing interest in health-conscious products like gym equipment, sports shoes, and accessories. There is also an increase in the number of sports players and athletes, which will drive the socks market. Diabetic patients prefer to use diabetic socks prescribed by their doctors to protect their feet due to the increasing need for foot ulcers and infection treatments. Sock demand is expected to rise as a result.
The United States is one of the largest markets for socks, with many well-known companies producing high-quality products. To name a few, this article will introduce some top companies manufacturing socks in America.
• Sleet and Sole
www.sleetandsole.com
Sleet and Sole is an American company that makes eco-friendly socks with the most luxurious sustainable materials, unsurpassed coziness, and distinctive designs. By using yarns from recycled socks, small batch merino wool socks, and FSC bamboo fiber socks, it demonstrates its dedication to sustainable techniques.
The company also employs REPREVE®, a specialized fiber manufactured from recycled plastic that has been reused from millions of bottles. Sleet & Sole REPREVE® Socks are created from three recycled plastic bottles that would otherwise fill landfills and contaminate rivers.
• Custom Sock Lab
www.customsocklab.com
A bespoke sock manufacturer and designer established in the USA, Custom Sock Lab provides high-quality products in a variety of colors, styles, and designs with short delivery times. It produces a variety of eye-catching personalized socks in bulk, from fundraiser socks for non-profits to branded socks for enterprises.
Customers should fill out the form on the business website to obtain customized socks. They will then be connected with a designer and have the opportunity to specify the order’s specifics. Customers can choose the colors, design components, and sock length they want, and Custom Sock Lab will create it. The business will make a prototype after receiving the customer’s design and submit it for approval. After some back and forth to get it just right, they’ll start mass production to fill the customer order.
• Farm to Feet
www.farmtofeet.com
As one of the nation’s leading manufacturers of performance merino wool socks, Nester Hosiery launched Farm to Feet in 2013. Manufacturing the best American-made socks, improving outdoor recreation experiences, and protecting the wilderness are some of the company’s missions.
The product categories of the Farm to Feet company include Trail, every day, snow sports, hunt/fish, sport, and tactical socks. Farm to Feet socks is made entirely of materials sourced and manufactured in the United States. The company is dedicated to the goal of producing the best wool socks in the world. With Farm to Feet, you can be assured that you are purchasing materials and products of the highest quality while also having a minimal impact on the environment.
• Sock Factory
www.thesockfactory.com
The Sock Factory is a family-run business with more than 40 years of experience that is based in western North Carolina. It is a vertically integrated facility that focuses on dress, compression, and outdoor socks in addition to high-performance sporting socks.
It gives top-notch customer service, innovation, and high-quality goods at affordable pricing. When Mike Banks Sr. returned to the Carolinas from his duties in the US Air Force, he discovered himself surrounded by thriving textile industry. This is where the tale of the Sock Factory began. His sons, who contributed to the expansion of the business, adopted it as their own. The sock factory currently employs more than 50 people, has more than 60 knitting machines, and anticipates a successful future producing socks for tomorrow.
• Nester Hoisery
www.nesterhosiery.com
Marty Nester founded Nester Hosiery in 1993. It creates the most innovative socks in the world for mountaineers, firefighters, military personnel, athletes, and anyone who appreciates a good pair of socks. It is a family-owned, environmentally conscious company that goes above and beyond to ensure a healthy and safe working environment.
Nester, a locally owned and operated company with a global presence, is dedicated to environmental protection through sustainable manufacturing and distribution processes. In both a local and global sense, Nester Hosiery believes in doing everything to benefit the community.
The company strives to produce high-quality socks that meet customers’ requirements, use sustainable materials, and use the least amount of energy, water, and waste. Its strong supply chain, which includes wool growers, yarn processors, and software developers, ensures Nester Hosiery has a strong future. It has also strong, beneficial relationships with its customers, brands, and licensing partners.
• Sockrates
www.sockratescustom.com
In order to make you the best custom socks, we would love to get to know all about you to make some truly unique designs. But we thought you might like to get a little introduction to us too.
Our journey began in 2018 in a small retail store focused on Italian manufacturing. As our expertise grew in creating unique designs, the idea caught on and we began branching out into custom designs for our clients, focusing on made-in-Italy products that grew into our true passion – Custom Socks!
• Soxnet
www.soxnetinc.com
In 2002, Soxnet began manufacturing and distributing quality legwear for men, women, children, and infants. Through steady sales growth, it has become able to provide customers with premium, on-trend, and affordable legwear.
The United States market accounts for over 90% of all Soxnet products. As a result of the factory locations, Soxnet is able to deliver products to its customers promptly, helping the company remain competitive.
Having manufacturing facilities in the United States, China, and South Korea helps Soxnet maintain its manufacturing capabilities and quality control. With the help of Quality Assurance, the company makes sure that its products meet all the testing standards required for major retailers in the United States, Europe, and Asia.
Some of the current Factory Compliance Certification and Audits on Record are for Costco, Target, JC Penny, Zulily, Overstock.com, Gap, Kohl’s, and Puma.
• Zkano
www.zkano.com
Zkano is a family-owned mill that uses quality materials and a sustainable process to create some of the most comfortable, durable, and environmentally friendly socks available.
The group is in charge of the entire manufacturing process, from start to finish. This option enables them to constantly monitor quality throughout the process, reduce waste, and deliver a stellar product. For decades, the Zkano brand has recycled its manufacturing waste and the company’s current overall waste is proudly less than 2%.
Zkano takes great pride in continuing the socks-knitting legacy in its hometown of Fort Payne, Alabama, which has a long history of textile production. Since the early 1900s, Fort Payne has been producing socks, even providing them to American soldiers in World War II.
There were roughly 150 local sock mills at the industry’s peak in the late 1990s, employing more than half the locals and generating annual payrolls of more than $150 million. Fort Payne has the distinction of being known as the “sock capital of the world” since one in every eight pairs of socks manufactured worldwide were made here.
• Harriss and Covington
www.harrissandcov.com
1920 saw the establishment of Harriss & Covington in North Carolina. This region of North Carolina was regarded as the South’s textile hub at the time. It held true until the 1990s, when globalization opened up cheaper labor markets and almost all textile activities moved elsewhere.
The one exception was Harriss & Covington. The founding families of the company made a commitment to continue producing high-quality performance socks in the USA for well-known national and international brands. The company provides high-quality performance socks to some of the most well-known brands in the world, including Smartwool, Feetures, Allbirds, Sock Club, Socco, and Legacy Knitting.
• Darn Tough
www.darntough.com
American company Darn Tough Vermont has been producing socks for specific end uses for more than 40 years. The business creates, produces, markets, and promotes the best-fitting, most comfortable, and long-lasting socks currently on the market. They have been making socks for three generations and are skilled at it.
Making the world’s most cozy, long-lasting, and perfectly fitting socks is a passion skill that is handed down from father to son. The company’s products include Men’s, Women’s, Kids’, and Tactical Socks, made of natural and synthetic fibers. Darn Tough has the slogan of an unconditional lifetime guarantee and says: “If you can wear out our socks, we will replace them free of charge. No receipt needed, just the pair in question”.
• Fox River
www.foxsox.com
Since 1900, Fox River has been a major producer of outdoor, sporting, and lifestyle performance socks using both domestic and foreign yarns. The privately held Fox River runs a hosiery mill in Osage, Iowa, in the middle of the nation. Fox River is able to provide swift and convenient deliveries across the nation and around the world thanks to the mill’s strategic location.
The company is renowned for its dedication to cutting-edge sock design and ongoing awareness of prevailing trends in the industry. Fox River creates styles for the outdoor, winter sports, sports, workwear, military, women’s, children’s, and crafting industries. Fox River socks are created from a range of materials, including quality synthetics, acrylic, nylon, wool (Merino and worsted) fibers, and more. The oldest sock company in America, Fox River, has more expertise in creating better-performing socks than any other company. Military personnel and first responders receive special pricing from Fox River Mills because they go above and beyond in their work and should have access to equipment that does the same.
I would be very interested in speaking with someone in your company about producing some Private Label Socks for Spring 2024.
Best,
John Ford