Last semester, in our design and management classes,we studied a company called Ozone Socks.Ozone Socks was founded by a woman named Laurie Mallet . Mallet grew up in Paris with a mother who was a fashion forecaster and a stepfather who was an artist. They also ran an underwear and stocking company. After graduating from college Mallet moved to New York and worked with a man named Willi Smith whom she started Williwear- a business for which she was CEO. Smith and Mallet sold the company in 1977 and Mallet proceeded to buy a sock company called EG smith. With Mallet as the new owner, the company flourished because of the fashion she injected in it.
With all this experience behind her, Mallet sold EG smith, and started Ozone socks. Mallet focuses on socks and intimate wear because of her strong belief that fashion should be incorporated in intimate apparel. Although many people argue that socks are an article of clothing that are essentially hidden, Mallet believes “'Fashion is something you do for yourself”. The Socks at Ozone are all unique. They incorporate fashion into the design and are visibly different from “regular” socks. They are bright, have bold patterns, and vary in length. They also have socks for both men and women and their fabrics vary but they use mostly cotton.
It is interesting to see how Mallet took an article of clothing that we wear almost everyday, but is still somewhat insignificant, and made an entire brand out of that product; a product that has already been designed, but without an aesthetic component. It is even more interesting that people are willing to pay for the aesthetics of a product that essentially does not need an aesthetic aspect. So, it is the product they are paying for? Or the design and aesthetic of the product? Have the two elements melded over time?
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