Co-founder and CEO Stefan Lewinger has been running his sock subscription startup Sock Fancy in Atlanta for more than seven years.
In that time, Sock Fancy has curated more than 350 brand collaborations for socks and other projects with companies such as GE and Netflix. Progression in the business was great, Lewinger said. Then March came.
"We saw some great channels of growth until March when everything started to flip on its head," he said.
Those corporate partnerships and collaborations Sock Fancy relies on essentially froze overnight, Lewinger said. The need for change was emanate. But what's a sock startup to do?
Lewinger said he and his team started to realize the vital need for PPE and masks during the pandemic, not only for health care workers but for the general public. Thus, a pivot was born.
"It's a new reality we're going to have to face."
"We knew we really had a tight relationship with our manufacturers, so that was really our 'A-ha!' moment to switch gears and start producing (masks,)" he said.
And it paid off. Since the pivot, Sock Fancy has sold about 80,000 masks, and donated a matching 80,000 masks. Lewinger said they've sold to the general public, in addition to creating corporate masks for businesses such as Hardy's, Peachtree Orthopedics and even the Department of Defense.
"We were just floored by the response," he said.
Each Sock Fancy mask is equipped with a metal nose band, adjustable ear straps, a filter and clothe suitable for baby skin. Sizes range from adult to kid sizes.
The most important part about the pivot was helping others, Lewinger said; for every mask purchased, one will be donated to a health care or essential worker.
"We opened up a part of our website where you can go on… and nominate an organization you think is worthy of these masks," he said.
Like their socks, Sock Fancy has curated a mix of classic colors and fun patterns for their mask selection.
"We like to have fun with them," he said. "We like to be bold and colorful, but we don’t want to be so far out there that you would be embarrassed to wear them."
It's not lost on Lewinger that the situation is surreal and the potential for masks might become a more permanent part of our wardrobe for the foreseeable future.
"It will surely be a fashion statement for the next year or two," he said. "It's a new reality we're going to have to face."
Lewinger expects an accelerated demand for the next few months to a year and a half. When asked about a potential slowdown for demand once most people have masks, Lewinger said demand will likely taper off, but his business has been successful selling socks to people with drawers full of socks for more than seven years.
"As the supply increases with more and more options for masks, you’re no doubt going to see some really cool stuff coming out," he said. "We still think there’s going to be a lot of demand for variation."
The success from the pivot doesn't come without its headaches, Lewinger said. With a massive influx of orders and need for customer support, Sock Fancy is trying to scale up while the rest of the world is scaling down, he said. But the team is overall excited for the next stage.
"Quite frankly, before this happened, we were looking to furlough most, if not all, of the staff," he said.
The company is now working to keep up with demand. One of their main suppliers is hiring 95 seamstresses, and testing for their masks has received the highest rating for textile products, Lewinger said.
"We really have gone above and beyond," he said.
