The go-to sock distributor of modern day is most certainly Mes Chaussettes Rouges of Paris, France. They built a name for themselves around 7 years ago and have taken over the sock industry ever since. Now more than ever, they have come to realize that showing how to wear socks cannot be done without the�most important part of the outfit: your shoes. Thanks to Instagram, as usual, they now have a new medium to show this inspirational marriage of shoes + socks.
It is easy to show a bright sock on a white background. But what does that do for the consumer? Nothing really. It gives no direction, no inspiration, no help with fear of wearing bright colors. It gives nothing. But what does the picture at the top give? Or any in this post for that matter? Infinite emotions, good or bad. But at least it helps it shows you that you can wear bright blue socks with cedar color shoes and light trousers. It shows the possibility of what a bright colored sock can be paired with. And that is what the people need. But if you take away the shoes, you lose it all. And MCR knows this now and it shows in their marketing.
Most recently they have launched a new range of socks, ‘the durable range.’ Previously the majority of their cotton socks were 100% cotton lisle. This is a nice sock, but it is quite thin and if one is rough on their feet and washing methods, can easily blow through a pair after only a few wears. MCR saw this and wanted to do something about it so found a way to mix a non-compromising material to create a more durable yet equally comfortable and elegant version of their classic knee-high socks.
If you have yet to discover MCR, I suggest you get to know them. Their socks selection is like being a kid in a candy shop. Overwhelming at times!
All photos taken from Instagram, some courtesy of www.josephinederohan.com
A small excerpt from MCR themselves:
#Why these are the most durable socks in the market: how do we know it?
To say that a sock is durable , we sought a neutral and indisputable standard that allows to compare the resistance of several socks with each other. For this, we used the Martindale test. This is the most frequently used method for determining the wear resistance due to friction of textile products. The method simulates natural wear of the fabric used by rubbing the fabric sample for wool. The machine exerts friction and calculates the number of cycles made, until the breakage of the fabric. We obtain the index “Martindale” expressed in number of cycles. According the tests made in a laboratory in Switzerland, our socks of the super-solid range achieved the best results among a sample of 15 pairs of high-end brands, a resistance of nearly 49,000 cycles. This result can not be converted into a number of steps but corresponds to a very intensive use of a fabric. These socks are made of a thicker yarn of Scotland, polyamide, material used to make mooring boats and spandex, to have an impression of sharpness of the sock worn.
