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Take look behind the design of our new spring 2019 styles and colors.
Written by: Mercedes Marchand, VP of Design at Sockwell
The first of a bi-annual series, I’m quite excited to take you behind the design of our spring 2019 collection. This season, we focused on grounding neutrals paired with energizing pops of color, redesigning key styles for further functionality, and introducing new styles to add new flavor to each category.
To start, I want you to understand my process; how I get from A to Z, with “A” being a concept, all the way to “Z,” socks on your feet.
Every creative person has their own process. Mine is very tactile. I walk city streets, talking to devoted customers and complete strangers; I attend trend seminars and visit museums and galleries; I consider what’s going on in the world and what’s in the hearts and minds of people; I take lots of pictures; I meditate.
I take it all back to my office and hole up for weeks, translating this hodgepodge of ideas into harmonious themes and complementary color stories that resonate with who we are as a brand. These concepts get filtered down and interpreted into a variety of textile designs. I then collaborate with the team to apply the design concepts to our current assortment, evaluating what’s needed to keep things fresh and exciting.
Some would say it’s organized chaos—or just chaos, depending on who you talk to—but at the start to each new season, every design has a purpose, colors are introduced with thoughtfulness, and technical features are reviewed and revised at length to ensure we’re delivering on our promise to help people feel better in style.
Let's take a look behind the design of our Spring 2019 collection.
Inspiration
Inspirations for the season are unified under an overarching theme of well-being.
What evokes comfort and joy? Is it time to unplug from the world and reconnect with friends, hang with our pets, and focus on activities that promote positivity? We’re craving objects and actions that help us heal from constant over-saturation.
So, I took it back to basics. Focusing on concepts and color stories that ground us, reconnect us with nature, and inspire our sense of well-being.
Color
This season, we introduced Hyacinth. Just like its botanical namesake, it is a richly hued, deep purple with blue undertones. With links to stability, wisdom and energy, we added this color for spring 2019 to help bond our blue, purple and pink color stories.
Aside from Hyacinth, pinks that evoke softness (look for Azalea, Lotus, Guava and Rose), light grounding neutrals (think Barley, Natural and Oyster), and refreshing green palettes (I’m loving Mineral, Celadon and Teal) are cornerstones for the season. One of my favorite colors for the season is Spearmint, which give a refreshing burst of color to the collection.
Key Styles
I’m loving The Raj. It’s a beautiful and sophisticated design offered in soft neutrals yet goes the extra mile with 20-30mmHg firm graduated compression for added support.
I designed Emboldened and Love Lots with nurses and the healthcare community in mind, with exciting pops of color to refresh the standard medical wardrobe of scrubs and white coats. These styles are vibrant, colorful and functional, offering 15-20mmHg moderate graduated compression for long days on your feet.
For Spring I love the Undercover (offered in Women’s and Men’s). It is the only version of this silhouette that has ever stayed on my foot! When I am not wearing a compression sock, you’ll find me in the Undercovers with my Van’s or a loafer style shoe. Seriously, this sock stays up all day and keeps my feet dry and comfortable even during in the hottest months.
Redesigns and Updates
The redesigns I’m most excited about fall within our Plantar series.
The Women’s Plantar Ease Crew has a new design and fit. It’s a bit shorter with a more ergonomic fit and less snug at the top. We’ve put a twist on the existing color block stripe design by adding a gradated pattern, cuing the gradated fit and providing another layer of visual interest.
The Men’s Plantar Ease Quarter design was refreshed as well, with a lifestyle look to create a contrasting style option to the Pacer Quarter, which offers a similar fit in a more technical, sport-focused design.
How are you liking our new spring styles and colors? I hope you find them as refreshing and inspiring as I do. Your feedback means everything, so please contact us if you have product feedback or requests. And as always, if you love our socks please spread the word! There’s no greater feeling than reading your five-star reviews on our website and across the internet.
To those of you who have been around to see our products grow and evolve over the years, thank you for your continued loyalty. And for those who are just getting to know us, I invite you to try something in each category. And once you identify a style you love, take a look behind the design by getting to know the technical aspects of each sock. You’ll quickly discover your personal preferences, allowing you to identify which features are most important to you so you can feel better in style every day.
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