Well beyond fashion brands, socks are gaining a foothold in sports and character licensing.

From sports to entertainment and corporate brands, characters and logos are spreading across a broad range of sock styles from Stance’s calf-length with NBA team names to Bioworld’s crew socks with characters from the Five Nights at Freddy’s mobile game.

To many, licensed socks are the new form of self-expression taking their lead from footwear and the last of the apparel accessories categories to broadly carry a licensed brand.

“The power of social media helps with the branding and marketing, and there are new lanes for promoting and showing what we are doing in licensing,” says Odd Sox’s Ahmad Akar, whose company has 30 licenses ranging from Kellogg’s breakfast cereals to World Wrestling Entertainment stars. “Before in order to get into the industry and compete with major sock companies, it might take millions of dollars and a big infrastructure to acquire licenses and sell to retailers.”

Indeed, the twin forces driving licensing’s expanded presence in socks have been both in the technology used to produce the socks and the arrival of social media that allows start-upsto gain notice and a following without spending millions of dollars. Digital technologies such as sublimation printing, which started being implemented for socks about six years ago, is supplementing screen printing in allowing for short production runs and designs that use multiple colors and photographic imagery.

In many respects, sublimation printing is similar to silk-screening a t-shirt — taking white polyester socks and heat sealing a design on them. The process allows inventories to be kept low since orders are filled as they arrive. In contrast, some socks, such as collegiate versions sold by Uswag, are completely embroidered, with the crest of a team knitted as part of the sock.

Start-ups can compete

Now, smaller sock-only start-up such as Odd Sox and Uswag can compete at retail with much larger firms. And Bioworld, a well-known provider of t-shirts and other licensed apparel, has worked with its suppliers in doubling manufacturing capacity for its socks with a focus of areas of growth such fashion juniors and high quality men’s styles, says a Bioworld spokesman. On the sports side, the arrival of the Nike Elite socks in 2008 demonstrated to many that consumers were willing to pay more for better aesthetics and comfort. That introduction gave rise to licensed college and pro team socks from Stance – it became the official NBA player sock in 2015 – and Uswag, which has licenses with 20 colleges and universities.

The licensed socks have come at a steep price, relative to more day-to-day socks. Most retail for $12-$19 a pair. The prices initially limited distribution for character-based socks to specialty chains catering to many of the properties’ fans including Hot Topic, Spencer Gifts, Zumiez, Tillys and others. For sports, distribution is broader, with national retailers carrying the socks, usually regionalizing assortments for colleges, universities and pro teams.

But licensees also are seeking to bring their wares both to mass retailers and a growing number of sock-only retailers:

• Tampa-based Odd Sox, having established its brand with specialty retailers, is using its Cool Sox brand to try to move into more mass and mid-tier distribution. At its larger specialty retail accounts, Odd Sox typically has 12-24 SKUs in a range of styles across 3-4 properties. The assortment may shrink to a dozen items at smaller dealers. Odd Sox also will vary the licenses it uses based on the retailer and its target customer. For example, chains such as 103-store Downtown Locker Room or the candy chain It’Sugar may get Kellogg’s Frosted Flakes or Honey Smacks brand socks, while F.Y.E.’s website sells Kiss or AC/DC versions. Odd Sox also has a Sox Box monthly subscription service ($10 for a single pair and up to $75 for 10 pairs).
• Walmart.com appears to making a big bet on licensed socks. It is carrying a broad selection of Stance product ranging from Five Nights at Freddy’s crew socks at $8.99 to Motor Head, Slayer and Stephen Curry versions at $18. It also has been promoting a Stance’s men’s Star Wars Rogue One three-pack gift set for $60 along with a $120 Star Wars: The Light Side six-pack gift box.
• Uswag socks will be part of Amazon’s new “Exclusives” branded online store, says Uswag’s Michael Waddell. Exclusives, which launched in March, is within the standard Amazon marketplace and provides customers with a range of accessories, toys, sporting equipment and other products from “up and coming” companies, Amazon said when it launched Exclusives last month. For its part, Uswag will start with Amazon Exclusiveswith socks licensed from English premier League clubs Tottenham Hotspur and Manchester City, which will be touring the U.S. this summer as part of the International Champions Cup tour that starts in July. A selection of Uswag’s college socks – U. of Kentucky, U. of Miami and Baylor are its top-sellers – will be added this summer to Amazon Exclusives, along with others such asIndyCar designs. Uswag is planning 12-13 new designs for IndyCar this year including 8-9 featuring specific drivers. Among the drivers, James Hinchcliffe will have a pair this year with the words “Stop” and “Go,” a reference to the name of the dance duo he was a part of on ABC-TV’s “Dancing with the Stars.” In the case of IndyCar, Uswag works with Legends, which handles merchandising for the organization.
• Sock-related retail revenue for Collegiate Licensing Co. (CLC) increased 40% in 2016, driven by fashion styles and licensees such as Stance, For Bare Feet, Rock ‘Em Apparel and others, says CLC’s Jessica Austin. CLC clients’ sock sales are split evenly between online and brick and mortar retailers, says Austin. She says that some vendors who previously had several other accessories categories for certain schools are now coming in to add the socks license to create a “head-to-toe” package.

As licensed socks seek to find a permanent home in retail stories, the approach to merchandising them varies. Specialty retailers frequently give socks dedicated space within the accessories section, while larger chains use them in seasonal and special promotional endcaps such as those tied to film releases. Absent the endcap, the licensed socks are typically merchandised alongside unbranded versions in the accessories sections at mass retailers. The licensed socks are widely available online, with many of the licensees operating their own sites in addition to supplying other ecommerce retailers.

Impulse buys

They’re largely an impulse buy. And the emergence of sock-only chains also plays into consumers’ craving for being able “get what you want right away” with having to wade through a brick and mortar store’s other departments, says Akar.

Also, along with vendors in other categories, socks companies have quickened the pace of design cycles. Odd Sox, which sources its socks from factories in the Far East, begins the design process with licenses up to a year in advance, says Akar.  But production and shipping can be completed in two months, says Akar. Uswag uses a North Carolina contract manufacturer and can work on 3-4-week cycle for “hot market” opportunities, says Waddell.

Yet, some licensors, even those that have sock licensees, are taking a a more measured approach. Lionsgate had men’s licensed socks for the Hunger Games films, but hasn’t fielded any since, says Lionsgate’s Sheila Clark. The Hunger Games socks were aimed at men and viewed as a conversation starter that allowed “people to express themselves in a different way as an extension of footwear,” says Clark. At comic book publisher Valiant Entertainment, licensee Hypnotic Hats has a three-pack gift box that features Bloodshot, X-O Manowar and other characters. The package is still awaiting retail distribution, says Valiant’s Russell Brown.

“Collectibles are one thing and t-shirts are another, but socks still have room to grow,” says Brown. “The cost of goods is reasonably low and it is easy to merchandise, which is one of the reasons I think we’re seeing a lot more of the licenses in the category.”​

Contacts:

Collegiate Licensing Co., Jessica Austin, Senior Dir. Apparel Management, 770-956-0520 ext 6244, jaustin@clc.com

Lionsgate Entertainment, Sheila Clarke, SVP Consumer Products and Franchise, 310-255-3612, sclarke@lionsgate.com

Odd Sox, Ahmad Akar, CEO, 727-538-8880, ahmad.oddsoxco@gmail.com

Uswag, Michael Waddell, CEO, 615-585-4553, michaeljwaddell@gmail.com

Valiant Entertainment, Russell Brown, Pres. Consumer Products, 212-972-0361, russb@valiantentertainment.com