Creating the [BE SEEN] Running Socks

When we introduced our first Performance Running Socks in June 2021, we already had another idea taking shape.

The original [BE SEEN] Collection had shown us how performance clothing could combine bright colours with reflective detailing for runners training in darker conditions. With our first running socks about to launch, it seemed natural to ask whether we could bring the same thinking to our socks.

The idea was there. Early designs were already being explored. But whether we committed to developing the [BE SEEN] Running Socks would depend on one important question: how would runners respond to our first running socks?

We didn't have to wait long for the answer.

Building on the [BE SEEN] Collection

The [BE SEEN] story began in Autumn/Winter 2019.

We wanted to create performance clothing that would help runners stand out during the darker autumn and winter months, combining bright Neon Yellow fabric with strategically positioned reflective detailing.

The collection proved popular and was particularly well received when we took it to the National Running Show in January 2020.

By the time we began developing running socks, [BE SEEN] was therefore already an established part of ABSOLUTE360®. Creating a [BE SEEN] Running Sock wasn't about inventing another concept. It was about finding the right way to apply that existing philosophy to a completely different product.

The Running Socks Changed the Timeline

Our Performance Running Socks launched in June 2021 and sold strongly from the outset.

That early response gave us the confidence we needed.

The idea for a [BE SEEN] version had already begun moving from sketches and ideas on paper into digital designs. A surviving CAD drawing dated 7 June 2021 shows just how early we were exploring the concept.

Early CAD development drawing for the [BE SEEN] Running Socks, dated 7 June 2021.

But there is a difference between exploring an idea and committing to making it.

The immediate success of the Performance Running Socks made that decision considerably easier. Instead of waiting to see whether running socks would establish themselves within the ABSOLUTE360® range, we accelerated the [BE SEEN] project and moved towards prototyping and production.

The objective was ambitious: have the new socks ready ahead of Winter 2021.

Starting With a Running Sock We Already Trusted

One of the biggest advantages was that we didn't need to develop another running sock from scratch.

The baseline for the new product was our existing Performance Running Sock – Quarter.

Its yarns, construction, cushioning and fit had already been developed and tested over hundreds of running miles. Rather than changing something that was already working, we concentrated on the two areas that would turn it into a [BE SEEN] Running Sock:

colour and reflectivity.

For the body of the sock, we selected three bright colours:

• Neon Yellow
• Neon Pink
• Neon Green

But incorporating a reflective element into a running sock presented a more interesting challenge.

Rethinking Reflectivity for a Running Sock

The obvious solution would have been to use an applied reflective transfer.

We decided against it.

Applied reflective elements sit on the surface of a garment. Over time and repeated use, they can deteriorate, crack or begin to peel away. They are also positioned on a particular face of the product, so their visibility depends on the direction from which light reaches them.

A sock gave us an opportunity to approach reflectivity differently.

Instead of applying the reflective element onto the sock, we decided to knit it into the sock.

The solution was reflective yarn incorporated directly into the cuff.

The CAD design specified reflective yarn running around the cuff, creating a reflective band approximately 1cm high. The cuff itself was also made slightly taller than that of the original Performance Running Sock to accommodate the new [BE SEEN] detailing.

Because the reflective yarn travelled around the cuff, it created 360-degree reflectivity around the lower leg.

And because the reflective element was knitted into the construction rather than applied to its surface, there was nothing to crack or peel away in the way an applied reflective transfer could.

It was a simple change visually, but an important one technically.

Bright by Day, Reflective in the Dark

The combination of the two elements was central to what we wanted the [BE SEEN] Running Socks to achieve.

The Neon Yellow, Neon Pink and Neon Green yarns made the socks immediately distinctive in daylight.

In darker conditions, the reflective yarn around the cuff added another dimension. When illuminated by headlights or another direct light source, the yarn reflected light around the circumference of the sock.

Reflective yarn knitted around the cuff of the [BE SEEN] Running Socks reflects light in darker conditions.

It meant the visibility element wasn't simply an addition placed on one side of the sock. It had become part of its construction.

For runners heading out early in the morning, after work or during the darker winter months, that felt like the right evolution of the original [BE SEEN] idea.

One Prototype, Not Another Development Programme

Normally, developing a new performance product involves repeated prototypes, testing and revisions.

This project was different.

Underneath the new colours and reflective cuff was a running sock we already knew extremely well. The Performance Running Sock had already gone through its own development process and had been tested over hundreds of miles before launch.

There was little value in repeating all of that work simply because the colour had changed.

As a result, only one prototype was required for the [BE SEEN] Running Socks.

The first [BE SEEN] Running Socks prototype in Neon Green, Neon Pink and Neon Yellow.

Once we were satisfied that the reflective yarn and modified cuff worked as intended, we could move towards production.

Missing Winter 2021

Our original ambition had been to launch the socks ahead of Winter 2021

In hindsight, the timeline was simply too tight.

Although starting with an existing sock allowed us to accelerate development, there were still prototypes, production schedules and manufacturing lead times to contend with.

Eventually, it became clear that trying to force the product onto the market simply to meet our original deadline made little sense.

So we changed the plan.

Rather than rush the launch, we decided to introduce the [BE SEEN] Running Socks somewhere that had already played an important role in the [BE SEEN] story:

the National Running Show.

Our finished production arrived during the final week of December 2021.

Just in time.

Launching at the National Running Show 2022

In January 2022, the [BE SEEN] Running Socks made their debut at the National Running Show.

The response was encouraging from the outset.

One feature in particular generated conversation: the reflective yarn.

Runners we spoke to were accustomed to seeing reflective stickers or transfers applied to running clothing. Many had never seen reflective yarn incorporated directly into a sock before and were impressed by the idea of making the reflective element part of the product itself.

The three colours were also well received.

Looking at the initial sales, Neon Pink fractionally outperformed Neon Yellow, while Neon Green sold in lower numbers than the other two colours.

After beginning as an idea alongside the launch of our first Performance Running Socks only months earlier, the [BE SEEN] version had made it from paper to prototype, production and finally into runners' hands.

More Than Just a Brighter Running Sock

Perhaps the most important lesson from developing the [BE SEEN] Running Socks was knowing what not to change.

We already had a Performance Running Sock that had been extensively tested and that runners had responded positively to. There was no reason to redesign it simply for the sake of creating something new.

Instead, we concentrated on what the [BE SEEN] version needed to do differently.

Bright yarn gave the socks their distinctive appearance. Reflective yarn knitted around the cuff introduced visibility in darker conditions without relying on an applied reflective transfer. The underlying construction remained the running sock we already trusted.

The result was not simply a brighter version of an existing product.

It was the next step in an idea that had started with the original [BE SEEN] Collection in 2019: combining performance clothing with thoughtful visibility features for runners who don't stop running when the daylight disappears.

Final Thoughts

From the beginning, the [BE SEEN] Running Socks were never intended to replace our original Performance Running Socks.

They were another option.

Some runners want understated colours. Others want to stand out. And for those training through the darker months, visibility can become another consideration when choosing what to wear.

The unexpected early success of our first running socks gave us the confidence to accelerate an idea that was already taking shape. What followed was a relatively short development project, but one that introduced something genuinely different to our running sock range.

Sometimes product development is about starting with a blank sheet of paper.
Sometimes it is about taking something that already works and asking:

how can we make it do something more?