How 3,000 Miles Shaped Our Running Socks
Every product we introduce at ABSOLUTE360® starts with a reason.
At the beginning of 2020, running had become an increasingly important part of the ABSOLUTE360® community. More runners were discovering our products, wearing them for training and recovery, and sharing their experiences with us.
One request was becoming increasingly common: running socks.
It seemed like a natural next step for the ABSOLUTE360® range, but we didn't want to introduce a running sock simply because our customers were asking for one. If we were going to make one, we wanted to understand the problems runners experienced with their existing socks and see whether we could design something genuinely different.
What began as an idea on paper would eventually take more than a year of development, two prototypes and approximately 3,000 miles of testing before we were ready to put the ABSOLUTE360® name on the finished product.
Finding the Right Manufacturing Partner
Once the decision had been made, the first challenge was finding the right manufacturer.
For us, there was one requirement that wasn't negotiable: the socks had to be made in Italy.
Made in Italy has always been an important part of the ABSOLUTE360® philosophy and our connection with Italian textile manufacturing. We therefore began searching for a specialist sock manufacturer that could combine the technical knowledge we needed with the quality we expected.
Eventually, we identified an Italian manufacturer with more than 40 years of experience in sock production.
In July 2020, the first conversations with the factory began.
Rather than selecting an existing sock and adding the ABSOLUTE360® name to it, we were starting with a blank sheet of paper.
Starting with the Problems, Not the Product
Before deciding exactly what our running socks should look like, we considered what we wanted them to do.
Our research into existing running socks highlighted two areas in particular that we wanted to address.
The first was friction and durability around the toes and heel. These are high-impact areas where repeated movement can contribute to discomfort, blistering and premature wear.
The second was something we had noticed around the ball of the foot.
During running, even small amounts of movement between the foot, sock and shoe can create friction. That friction can contribute to the development of hot spots, particularly as the miles accumulate.
Looking at other running socks available at the time, we weren't finding a construction that addressed this in quite the way we had in mind.
So those two problems became an important part of the design brief.
Designing the First ABSOLUTE360® Running Socks
By August 2020, ideas that had started on paper were being developed into digital designs.
We decided to create two different styles from the outset:
Technical development artwork for the Performance Running Socks – Ankle, August 2020.
Technical development artwork for the Performance Running Socks – Quarter, August 2020.
The challenge was then to combine different yarns and knitting constructions so that each part of the sock performed a particular job.
For the toe and heel areas, we selected NanoGLIDE®, a specialist yarn technology designed to help manage friction, heat and moisture while providing excellent abrasion resistance.
Around the ball of the foot, we took a different approach.
A specific construction using grip yarn was developed, which we called Grip-Knit. Rather than allowing the sock to move against the foot during running, Grip-Knit was designed to help the sock stay securely in position.
Less movement meant reducing one of the sources of friction between the foot, sock and shoe.
For the main body of the sock, we incorporated the same infrared-responsive yarn technology already used within ABSOLUTE360® clothing. The objective was to create a comfortable environment around the foot while supporting temperature regulation during running.
By September 2020, the combination of yarns, construction and overall design had been agreed.
It was time to make the first prototypes.
The First Prototypes Arrive
The first prototype socks arrived in October 2020.
The first ABSOLUTE360® running sock prototypes, received in October 2020.
Seeing a physical sock for the first time was an important milestone, but it was really only the beginning.
A running sock can look right on paper and feel comfortable when first pulled on. What matters is what happens after five miles, ten miles, twenty miles — and what happens after it has been worn and washed repeatedly.
There was only one way to find out.
We needed to run in them.
A lot.
Building a Testing Team
We selected five runners with very different running backgrounds and abilities to test the prototypes.
At one end were fast runners capable of approximately 15-minute 5Ks and 70-minute half marathons. At the other were runners accustomed to spending many hours on their feet during long-distance and ultramarathon events.
The socks weren't restricted to one environment either.
They were tested on the track, on the road, across trails and over the fells.
This variety mattered. A sock that performs well during a short, fast road session isn't necessarily being subjected to the same demands as one worn for hours across uneven terrain.
We wanted feedback from both ends of that spectrum.
Testing, Running and Refining
From October onwards, the testers began accumulating miles.
We weren't simply asking whether the socks felt comfortable. Mileage was recorded against each pair so that we could assess three areas that had been central to the project from the beginning:
comfort, performance and durability.
The first prototypes performed well, but testing identified some minor areas that could still be improved.
That feedback was returned to the factory and changes were made to the design and construction.
In December 2020, the second prototype was produced.
Then the testing started again.
3,000 Miles Before Production
Over approximately five months, the five-person testing group accumulated around 3,000 combined miles in the prototype socks.
One individual pair reached approximately 630 miles.
That mileage gave us the opportunity to evaluate much more than how the socks felt when new. We could see how the materials and construction responded to repeated running, washing and prolonged use.
Most importantly, the second prototype was doing what we had originally set out to achieve.
The socks were comfortable. The Grip-Knit construction helped keep them securely positioned around the foot. The high-friction areas were proving durable, and the combination of yarns and construction was performing as intended.
There was also an unexpected development during testing.
Some of our faster testers had started racing in the prototypes — and several personal bests followed.
The socks soon acquired an unofficial nickname among the testing group:
the “PB socks”.
We couldn't promise they would make anyone run faster, of course, but we weren't going to argue with the nickname.
From Prototype to Production
By early 2021, after months of development and thousands of miles of testing, we were satisfied.
There comes a point in product development when you have to decide whether something is genuinely ready rather than simply nearly ready.
For us, the second prototype had reached that point.
In March 2021, production of the first ABSOLUTE360® running socks began in Italy.
The idea that had first been discussed more than a year earlier was finally becoming a finished product.
The first production ABSOLUTE360® Performance Running Socks, photographed at the factory in Italy in 2021.
The Performance Running Socks Arrive
In June 2021, we officially launched:
Performance Running Socks – Quarter
and
Performance Running Socks – Ankle
The Performance Running Socks – Quarter in their original 2021 packaging.
Holding the finished, packaged socks for the first time was difficult to describe.
We had watched the project progress from an idea on paper to digital artwork, yarn selection, prototypes, tester feedback, revisions and thousands of running miles.
Now there was a finished ABSOLUTE360® product sitting inside the packaging.
It was exciting, certainly, but there was also a real sense of satisfaction.
We knew what had gone into them.
Final Thoughts
It would have been considerably quicker to choose an existing sock, make a few changes and put our name on it.
But that wasn't what we wanted to do.
The aim from the beginning was to develop running socks around the needs of runners: identifying where friction and wear occurred, considering how the sock interacted with the foot and shoe, selecting materials for specific areas and then testing the result properly.
Five runners. Different abilities. Different terrains. Two prototypes. Approximately 3,000 miles.
Only after all of that did we go into production.
Our Performance Running Socks may have started as a few ideas on paper, but by the time they reached their packaging in June 2021, they had already travelled a very long way.
