Sock It To Me (clothing company)
{{Short description|Clothing company}}
{{notability|Corp|date=February 2023}}
{{Infobox company
| name = Sock It To Me
| logo =
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| industry = Apparel
| founded = 2004 in Portland, Oregon, United States
| founder = Carrie Atkinson
| hq_location_city = Milwaukie, Oregon
| hq_location_country = United States
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| products =
| owner = Carrie Atkinson
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| website = {{URL|https://www.sockittome.com/}}
}}
Sock It To Me is a company which sells socks and other apparel. It was founded in 2004, and is based in Milwaukie, Oregon. Its motto is "Be Awesome, Wear Awesome."{{cite news |last1=Satenstein |first1=Liana |title=Novelty Socks Are Fashion's Newest Necessity for 2016 |url=https://www.vogue.com/article/novelty-socks-fashions-newest-accessory |access-date=7 May 2021 |publisher=Vogue |date=January 5, 2016}}
History
Sock It To Me was founded by Carrie Atkinson in Portland, Oregon in 2004.{{cite news |last1=Bjorke |first1=Christopher |title=Faces of the List: Carrie Atkinson of Sock It To Me |url=https://www.bizjournals.com/portland/news/2019/09/13/faces-of-the-list-carrie-atkinson-of-sock-it-to-me.html |access-date=6 May 2021 |publisher=Portland Business Journal |date=September 13, 2019}} After graduating from University of Nebraska–Lincoln with a degree in marketing, Atkinson spent two years considering various career options before deciding to start her own company.{{cite news |last1=Moore |first1=Kathryn |title=Lincoln native putting stock in socks |url=https://journalstar.com/lifestyles/fashion-and-style/lincoln-native-putting-stock-in-socks/article_2fce466c-d425-5732-a14d-8cc56581a786.html |access-date=16 May 2025 |publisher=Lincoln Journal Star |date=January 16, 2012 |location=Lincoln, Nebraska}} During a year in which she had taught English in South Korea, she had been impressed by the colorful, well-made socks that her students wore, and she launched her enterprise by importing them. After revisiting South Korea and bringing back two suitcases filled with 2,000 pairs of socks, she sold her first socks at the Portland Saturday Market.{{cite news |title=From Socks to Reusable Face Masks: A Portland Business Pivots in the Wake of COVID-19 |url=https://www.wweek.com/promotions/2020/06/16/from-socks-to-reusable-face-masks-a-portland-business-pivots-in-the-wake-of-covid-19/ |access-date=6 May 2021 |publisher=Willamette Week |date=June 16, 2020}}{{cite news |last1=Jacklet |first1=Ben |title=Carrie Atkinson was only 26 when she decided to start her own company. Now Sock It to Me is splitting at the seams. |url=https://oregonbusiness.com/6539-sock-it-to-mes-success/ |access-date=16 May 2025 |publisher=Oregon Business |date=July 20, 2011}} She was twenty-six years old. Eventually, she began designing her own styles and working with manufacturers in South Korea to create them. In 2005, she visited a few trade shows and began selling the socks wholesale. She saved up her money to attend the Magic trade show in Las Vegas.
In 2012, Atkinson hired Michelle Walker, a former PepsiCo marketing executive, to be the CEO of Sock It To Me.{{cite news |last1=Mannepalli |first1=Aswin |title=How Online Sock Seller Sock It To Me Got Serious And Quadrupled Its Sales |url=https://www.forbes.com/sites/aswinmannepalli/2017/08/04/how-online-sock-seller-sock-it-to-me-got-serious-and-quadrupled-its-sales/?sh=623639823da3 |access-date=6 May 2021 |work=Forbes |date=August 4, 2017}} In 2015, the company moved its headquarters from Southeast Portland to Milwaukie, Oregon, and released its first underwear line.{{cite news |last1=Marum |first1=Anna |title=A Portland sock company wants to sell you bacon underwear |url=https://www.oregonlive.com/window-shop/2015/09/sock_it_to_me_underwear.html |access-date=7 May 2021 |publisher=The Oregonian |date=September 30, 2015}} In 2018, Sock It To Me was one of the fastest-growing companies in Portland.{{cite news |last1=Knapp |first1=Deb |title=Women's History Month: The woman behind Portland’s Sock It To Me |url=https://katu.com/news/local/womens-history-month-the-woman-behind-portlands-sock-it-to-me |access-date=16 May 2025 |publisher=KATU2 |date=March 21, 2024}}
During the COVID-19 pandemic, Sock It To Me ran a sock drive for frontline healthcare workers and began producing reusable cloth masks.{{cite news |title=Portland-based sock company donates 330 pairs to healthcare workers |url=https://katu.com/news/local/portland-based-sock-company-donates-330-pairs-to-healthcare-workers |access-date=7 May 2021 |publisher=KATU News |date=April 28, 2020}} They hold an annual "Design a Sock" contest.{{cite news |last1=House |first1=Kelly |title=Portland company Sock It to Me announces annual design-a-sock contest |url=https://www.oregonlive.com/living/2012/09/portland_company_sock_it_to_me.html |access-date=7 May 2021 |publisher=Oregonian |date=September 14, 2012}}{{cite news |last1=House |first1=Kelly |title=Sock It to Me's annual sock design contest includes $1,000 prize (and free socks) |url=https://www.oregonlive.com/living/2013/03/sock_it_to_mes_annual_sock_des.html |access-date=16 May 2025 |publisher=Oregonian |date=March 13, 2013}} The 2010 contest had 2,500 submissions from all over the world.