How’s your sock game?
Socks have seen an explosion in popularity in recent times, just search #SockDoping on Instagram and you’ll see thousands of athletes (both within cycling and other sports) showing off their latest purchases, taking colour coordination to another level . Socks make the ideal medium to get your personality across. They aren’t expensive (so you can have a large selecton), can be mixed with other kit, and actually pretty damn good at keeping your feet warm (or cool).
SAKO7 is a range of socks and cycling apparel created by Sean Sakinofsky, a road cyclist originally from Cape Town, South Africa. The name SAKO7 comes from his nickname, Sako, and his lucky number 7.
So how did it all happen? Well, one night, late… while pondering love, peace & all good happiness stuff, he was staring at his refurbished vintage bike, looking at the name on the down tube, which had been masterfully placed there by his mechanic / spray painter, Jared. It was SAKO 7. On the top tube, there was a pair of his favorite make of socks, DeFeet®, and then it all dawned on him, ‘SAKO7SOCKS’ and so it all began.
It started with socks, and so the slogan is the root of all creation: ‘The socks maketh the kit’
All of SAKO’s designs for his cycling apparel, bottles and caps are influenced by his socks. Unique, yes.
However, the designs of SAKO7 are influenced by either Sean’s life experiences, famous artists, individuals or movies which have made an imprint on his life. He says his designs must have a story behind them, a book about his life.
His philosophy about socks is the following:
‘Sock length (YES, size does matter) most definitely is a contentious issue. Ankle high socks or anything less than a 4″ high cuff is a NO GO!
However, if a sock is too high, it is not considered ‘good style’ or ‘classy’.
Sean prefers when the top of the sock cuff stops at the beginning of the calf muscle belly, and does not run into or over the calf muscle. (It is of course up to the individual to position the cuff properly.) Everyone has a different shape calf muscle.
The sock should be high enough to accentuate the the lower leg running into the belly of the calf muscle.
There is nothing worse than when someone is wearing stylish cycling apparel and messes up the look with socks which fail to meet the aforementioned criteria.
Socks can make a bad kit look good and if the socks don’t conform to standards, then the socks can make a good kit look bad.
‘The socks maketh the kit’.
Lastly, regarding the style of socks, this is pretty much ‘Carte Blanche’. Socks can be seen as a blank piece of canvas for the designer to apply their artistic touch, and create their work of art.
Sean has always maintained that socks should be bold, daring and never boring. However, even a classic plain white high top pair of socks has its place.
The style of your socks is really the finishing piece to your kit. He also advocates that style stays and fashion fades. So with this in mind, and when it comes to socks, Sean changes it ever so slightly and states that fashion fades, but stripes will always stay.
The SAKO7 evolution continues and the latest exciting chapter is the globalisation of the brand. This development came about when Sean joined forces with Peter Appleton, former head of POC Bicycle Division. Peter has a flair for identifying inspirational and cutting edge brands along with expertise in product development and his myriad of global connections. Peter will be running the global distribution, assisting with product development and along with Sean they are taking SAKO7 to the next level.
sako7.com