Happy Socks Lab – SS’23

Happy Socks Lab is a yearly initiative, meant to explore new ideas and push the boundaries of design and craftsmanship. The motto for this project is "All Play, No Work", reflecting the team's desire to have fun and be creative without overthinking the process. This project is all about a "because we can" attitude.

This year's project features a limited edition of 30 hand-made tie-dyed socks, each with its own unique design, some featuring rhinestones or pearls, and others with a distressed look, made in Stockholm by the brand’s own in-house design team.

To celebrate the launch of Happy Socks Lab, the brand invited creatives, designers, and artists from their Stockholm community to an intimate gathering at the brand’s Creative Director’s apartment in Södermalm. The space would be transformed into a Happy Socks Lab, with tie-dyed material serving as bedspreads and tablecloths, trippy graphics reflected on the walls, and the bedroom transformed into a mini-nightclub. The guests each received an exclusive, hand-designed sock, and had the opportunity to experience the spirit of Happy Socks Lab firsthand, with drinks, snacks, and a surprise setting.

Happy Socks Lab is not just a one-off project. Each year, the team will take on a new theme and explore new ideas to create something truly unique and exciting. This year's project was just the beginning of what promises to be a yearly adventure in creativity and design.

We talked to senior designer Veronica Rönn about the process of designing the project’s first drop, at an event that took place before the lab.

What inspired the designs?

In a world that seeks perfection, we wanted to focus on imperfection. Inspired by stains, we discovered their hidden charm. Each mark tells a story—a spilled coffee, a playful moment, an adventurous memory. We turned these marks into sock designs, where stains became something beautiful. Our sock collection celebrates imperfection, inviting you to embrace life's surprises.

How did it feel to create the sock designs by hand vs. designing digitally?

It felt really nice to work by hand, with a kind of open mindset not really knowing how the socks would turn out. By just doing so we found new ways and directions on the way.

Tell us about some of the design processes (coloring, adding details etc.)

We rented a really nice studio, fully equipped to provide the ideal setting for our creative workshop. For some socks, we sprayed colors, yielding captivating randomness. With others, we dipped them to achieve gradients. We even folded some, allowing the color to create charming wrinkles. The beauty of this approach lay in its unpredictability - every outcome was unique. As we hung them up to dry, the colors continued to drip, unveiling new effects. Stay tuned for the announcement of next year’s lab next Spring.

What inspired the designs?

“In a world that seeks perfection, we wanted to focus on imperfection. Inspired by stains, we discovered their hidden charm. Each mark tells a story—a spilled coffee, a playful moment, an adventurous memory. We turned these marks into sock designs, where stains became something beautiful. Our sock collection celebrates imperfection, inviting you to embrace life's surprises.”

How did it feel to create the sock designs by hand vs. designing digitally?

“It felt really nice to work by hand, with a kind of open mindset not really knowing how the socks would turn out. By just doing so we found new ways and directions on the way.”

Tell us about the design process

“We rented a really nice studio, fully equipped to provide the ideal setting for our creative workshop. For some socks, we sprayed colors, yielding captivating randomness. With others, we dipped them to achieve gradients. We even folded some, allowing the color to create charming wrinkles. The beauty of this approach lay in its unpredictability—every outcome was unique. As we hung them up to dry, the colors continued to drip, unveiling new effects.”

Stay tuned for the announcement of next year’s lab next Spring.