With innovation becoming more and more critical as performance sock competition continues to increase, Wigwam Mills has plans to continue staying in business after 114 years with a new brand of innovative socks.
Tom Wheeler, Wigwam CEO, believes that business will be good heading into 2020 after the unusual weather didn’t help drive sales of hiking socks. But, momentum did pickup during the summer.
Based out of Sheboygan, Wisconsin, Wigwam employs around 200. The constant demand by consumers puts pressure on the company to continue its balance of providing both performance and fashion.
“Wigwam has always made socks from a technology standpoint, and from a quality standpoint, they are the best socks in the business,” Wheeler says. “The third leg has become fashion and lifestyle. We are emphasizing design and merchandising. Graphics, color and texture have become more important and the consumer demands all of them.”
Wheeler does give credit to Wigwam’s “formidable” research and staff as being the main drivers of the company’s continuous innovation in performance socks. They have been the architects of two patents and one patent that is currently pending, the new SynchroKnit sock. The ongoing patent for the SynchroKnit is for moisture control.
“SynchroKnit is so exciting and unique for us,” Wheeler says. “For the first time in the history of knitting socks, a sock has the perfect circumference in terms of stitches.”
What separates the SynchroKnit socks from other performance socks is that they are less stitched in certain areas where less bulk is desired, such as the ankle and arches. Which provides a tighter fit around the arch and gives more support.
Wheeler says that it is much harder now to get into the sock production game with competition increasing. But Wigwam has the advantage of 114 years of brand recognition. Consumers know a company in business that long likely stands behind its products.
