Because somehow aircraft carrier sales are related to “buying european” let’s have an actual consumer focused thread.
Here are some European wool sock models. In some cases the “made in” country is not specified, but at the very least the company should (I didn’t delve super deep to check the ownership structure, feel free to call me out) be European.
The list should contain models with 70%+ wool. Most have synthetics mixed in because without it socks rip very fast, it’s not for cost saving.
| Name | Note |
|---|---|
| Woolpower 200/400/600/800 | Made in Sweden. Sold on bike24 too. Woolpower has a contract with the Swedish millitary |
| Varusteleka L2 | Made in Finland, wool staple length provided |
| Pedemeia 100% Merino | Made in not specified, likely Portugal though. For those that haven’t learned their lesson that 100% wool socks desintegrate after 5 wears due to no synthetics for durability |
| Falke Teppich im Schuh | Made in not specified and support isn’t responding to me lol, Falke is German but I’m 99% sure it’s not made there |
| Devold Nansen | Made in not specified, also is on bike24 |
| Aclima Norwegian wool socks | Made in not specified, about us page says all production takes place in Europe, mostly in Estonia |
| Rohner Original | Swiss company, made in Portugal |
| Wowerat | Note that this is a wholesaler, you’ll have to find a distributor yourself (Brubaker?) some models made in Germany, I’m only mentioning it because it has some 100% wool models |
| kopyto.co | Made in Poland, certified mulesing-free |
| Calzedonia Wool/Cotton | (just 55% wool) Made in Croatia, Cotton on inside, wool on outside. They pill a lot. Calzedonia still does business in Russia |
| Heprom “Eskimo Socks” | Made “in Europe” (see pic of back), company is from Denmark |
Zalando also has a “100% wool” filter if you care: https://en.zalando.de/mens-clothing-socks/?upper_material=pure_wool
There’s also Burlington, Corgi and Mes Chausettes Rouges but that’s luxury-ish I guess
Ofttopic, but my Fairphone was shipped back to me from warranty repair today :) (mic broke)
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It would be interesting to have a list of all European clothing companies that produce in Europe for sure. Hopefully there are more than just these few that make socks but I guess most socks must be imported
Skinija has some wool options, made in Lithuania
Some of Devold production is in Lithuania. Edit: looking that they have 400 employees in LT probably most of it is made in Lithuania
I’m always happy with my Devold socks, but it’s probably hard to go wrong with anything on the list. :)
I like that Devold had the balls to make something like this, 90% merino too lol https://www.devold.com/en-gb/devold-merino-long-stocking-e91cc06c/
From Spain:
Thunders love - https://www.thunderslove.com/
Calcetines Mestizaje - https://calcetinesmestizaje.com/
Miss Calcetín - https://misscalcetin.es/
The Artic Bay - https://thearcticbay.com/
Personally, my favourites are from the two first brands, first one a bit of “luxury” socks, the other one more for everyday but veeerry good one.
Thunders Love’s composition to price ratio is pretty crazy. 35€ for 40% wool. Some of the models have no composition
Our socks are designed in a little village in the North west of Spain, at the bottom of a beautiful estuary, at the mouth of Lerez river, near Portugal border, there they are produced in small family workshops by hosiers who have been doing this throughout three generations.
Calcetines Mestizaje seems to have a few merino models - 1, 2 with ~80% wool content at a good price
Proximity fashion and local workshops
Our product is manufactured in a family, local workshops with a limited production in which the love and experience is put to provide a product of almost artisanal quality, with parameters that make it a close, sustainable and proximity fashion item.
The workshop is located in Pradoluengo (Burgos) a region with a long tradition of production and manufacture of textile work.
Miss Calcetines has a lot of (80%) wool models in nice rough texturebut they’re all One Size? https://misscalcetin.es/collections/lana
The about us page in Spanish says they’re made in Spain at the bottom of the page, which is nice.
Arctic Bay seems to be cotton only
Yes, artic is only cotton (sorry me head didn,t process the wool part, my bad) and regarding thunders love, I use to buy it in shops here for 15 the cheapest and 25 the most expensive ones. I had no idea that were that expensive on the web!!! I bought my last pair at 20 at a shop in Galicia last month, 80% wool.
But yes, the best one quality-price balance are Mestizaje. We have several pairs at home!
Consider https://dodosocks.com/, a Ukrainian socks brand. Very popular and respectable brand. I am sure they have at least Merino wool socks.
The wool content is low, most of their wool blend models can be found here.
The wool models are:
- Merino Trail (27% merino)
- Trek Merino (21% wool including 14% points merino wool)
- Merino Light (20% merino, 45% pima cotton though)
- Summit Merino+ (20% merino, 45% pima cotton, knee high)
- Lifestyle Wool Blend (17% merino)
I think the company good is if you like colorful designs rater than boring monocolored socks like I posted in the OP. I would stick to the cotton models due to the composition (e.g. little shepherd has 87% cotton) to support the foundatins that the company supports.
Woolpower is run by good people who prioritize sustainability and the welfare of their employees. I’ve been to their factory store in Östersund and I own a few of their products, although I haven’t tried their socks yet.
Good to hear. It’s interesting that so many people mention visiting their factory. Is it a popular company in Sweden? Here’s another person mentioning visiting their factory (the military versions are also mentioned): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o9MaXaanED0
I currently live in the US and couldn’t really say how popular Woolpower is in Sweden. I’m only familiar with them because they’re based in Östersund which isn’t far from where my mom lives. Their factory store is very nice with a great selection but it’s not “super cheap” like the guy in the video says about their outlet pricing --although they do offer a few beautiful products for really cheap that were created from “waste” wool that they couldn’t use in their regular products.
Good wool socks beat cotton and blends every day. Get the blend right and they even avoid stinking (though I have some blends that stink). Thanks for sharing.
Thanks for the list!
I also like to post/maintain lists here, but people say they vanish too fast as lemmy is quite fast moving.
