Swapsocks

UX / UI Design

Fascinated by the unsustainable nature of the fashion industry—the 2nd largest polluter in the world behind the oil and gas industry—I designed the circular sock service SwapSocks. A service designed for millennials offering single socks that are 100% recyclable. 

Industry deep dive

As a deep dive into the fashion industry, I visited the Ivory Garments factory in Jordan and spoke with fashion experts and millennials—a generation that soon counts as the largest consumer generation in history. Insights from the research were translated into six opportunity areas, demonstrating the changing mindset of the consumer and presenting opportunities for innovation within the fashion industry.

Re-designing socks

The research also revealed a problem that many millennial consumers experienced with their socks. This fast-fashion item was not sustainable, broke down easily, or even disappeared! Therefore, I designed a collection of 40 single socks with different patterns. All socks can be mixed & matched and are made from 100% recyclable Econyl, allowing them to be recycled forever. 

Swap experience

In order for the socks to be recycled, a closed-loop regeneration cycle was set up with Swapsocks production partners and consumers. The swapping of socks was encouraged by offering a 'swap discount' and extra attention was paid to the packaging to make the swap experience easy, fun and exciting.

At the Swapsocks website, millennials can buy their socks but also learn more about sustainable fashion in general. On the home page, the recycling process of the socks is explained, while the community page provides consumers with tips & tricks on how to lead a better textile life.

“The Swapsocks project shows that change can start with something as small as a sock, while at the same time the problem of missing socks is solved.”

Prof. Conny Bakker, Sustainability expert

Research direction: Conny Bakker & Ruth Mugge