About Us

Who The Hell Are You and Why Should I Care, FootClothes?

Why did this happen? Why is it called FootClothes?

Oh, the origin story. Right.

Actually, launching the sock brand was more of a happy accident than a grand plan. Before the pandemic, I was making a living as a séance magician at The Stanley Hotel. But when the lockdowns hit, I urgently needed a new venture, something outside the typical corporate box. Initially, I toyed with creating unique band merch, I thought band socks would be cool as nobody had them.

Then, one evening, while my partner and I were unwinding with wine and video games, one of us referred to socks as 'foot clothes' because we forgot the actual word, “socks.” I honestly don’t remember which of us it was at this point. So, our fun drunken night somehow turned into me making a business plan and buying URLs.

I need one sentence for a vendor bio...

We are a woman-owned novelty sock company focused on creating a quality product with kick-ass designs.

Why do you care about socks so much?

It’s super nerdy, but I've always loved novelty socks. I worked in a magic/costume store for 10 years, and would wear them under my combat boots for a splash of color (under my all black ensemble.)

Everyone needs socks. They're a great gift, and can really express your personality in a way that you can choose whether or not you would like to show off. I've always been frustrated that some of my favorite fun socks were not super comfortable or they wore out pretty quickly. The 'quality' yet 'quirky' sock category is rather slim. It's important to me to provide an affordable, positive, giftable, sustainable product.

I just love socks, you guys

What causes do you support?

We have used profits from sales thus far to support animal welfare causes, LGBTQ+ rights, BIPOC rights, and organizations that bring music and art to kids.

What are your eco-friendly practices?
  • No polyester
  • No plastic hooks, but the paper header doesn't tear easily
  • Reused, recycled, and recyclable Packaging
  • EcoEnclose shipping bags
  • Paper tape on boxes
  • Engineered for wearability to keep them out of landfills and thrift stores.
What is the culture there like?

1. Have fun. Make stupid jokes. Wear a costume to work. Build a box fort. Celebrate accomplishments and goals with pizza, beer, and high fives. Bring your dog. We spend too much of our lives at work for it not to be awesome.

2. Our goal is to hire a diverse workforce including women, BIPOC, LGBTQI+, disabled workers and those from all backgrounds of life.

3. Pay our staff well. Treat them as humans and friends. Work around personal lives, create a flexible environment centered on communication. Allow an environment for creativity and weird ideas.

4. Never settle for low quality. Provide top notch customer service and focus on lifetime value of the customer, over a one-time pushy sale. Graciously accept feedback from staff and customers.

Why goats?

When I was launching the brand, my friend happened to have baby goats. If I was going to put a bunch of time into a launch video on the internet, having baby goats in it just seemed like the obvious choice. They're not only adorable, but they also have a quirky, offbeat charm that aligns with our brand's dark yet playful identity. Goats are often linked with the occult, which complements our company's spooky, alternative vibe. In our community, especially in the goth and metal scenes, there appears to be a similar contrast where the scariest looking people covered in spikes and face paint are often, maybe secretly, the goofiest friends. There is an analogy in this to hiding cute fun socks under stompy combat boots. So, the goat became an ideal mascot for us, representing both our dark and lighthearted sides.

I want to start a company like yours - what advice do you have?

Allow yourself to mess up. Everyone has imposter syndrome. Everyone. The secret is to realize that you’re actually a really good imposter and just make up stuff as you go. You won’t know it all at the beginning and you’ll have to learn about things that aren’t even related to the product and art side of things like accrual accounting methods and software integrations. You have to be some combination of curious, resilient, and a little stubborn to be an entrepreneur I think.

I also think it’s important to remind yourself, often, why you are doing this in the first place. Then, use that motivation to trick yourself into thinking failure is not an option. Imagine you are on a tightrope and on the other side of the tightrope is a business or life goal of yours. Bathtubs full of cash, a celebrity you admire wearing your designs, maybe it’s just the need to get through to the next day without losing it. If you look down, you increase the chance of falling. There might be a safety net, there might not, but if you always act as if the safety net is not there and keep your head forward, you won’t fall.

The Kickstarter Video That Started it All