Socks appeal

Socks appeal

Two entrepreneurs are out to eliminate this

fashion faux-pas: Bare-legged men who wear socks with their shoes. Toe'ds may be the answer.

Guys, some of you ought to know better.

Unless you want to stick out like a tourist, please don't wear socks with loafers and sandals when you're wearing shorts. It might be OK to dress that way in Munich, but not in Naples or anywhere else on the Gulf Coast.

Now there's help. Two entrepreneurial women in Naples who have had enough of men looking silly have taken matters into their own feet. Martha Bibby and Kathleen Fleming designed socks called Toe'ds that fit over your toes and aren't visible when you're wearing shoes.

They started the business in June 2007 after realizing that the only socks of this kind are made of nylon for women. And, it turns out, most people hate wearing shoes without socks.

"You know a lot about people when you talk to them about their feet," Bibby says, noting some men do wear those little nylon socks even though they often scrunch up in the front of the shoe.

Toe'ds look like half socks because, it turns out, feet produce most of the sweat near the toes. Hardly any perspiration comes from the ball of your feet.

Bibby and Fleming, who had worked together in banking before teaming up to create Toe'ds, spent a year and a half talking to people about their feet. They only just recently received their first shipment of 10,000 pairs. "Everyone we talked to told us we're onto something," Bibby says.

Fleming started creating the product on a newly purchased sewing machine in 2007. She cut a man's sock just below the top where it hugs the ankle and sewed it close. After further tinkering, Fleming and Bibby tested samples on friends and started creating a brand, eventually coming up with a play on the words "toe" and "toad." Bibby taught herself Web design and built and maintains the company's Web site (www.toeds.us), which also lets people shop online.

Through a friend, they found a manufacturer in China that would be willing to make a small production run of 10,000 pairs. Surprisingly, no manufacturer in the United States was willing to do a production run below 25,000 pairs.

In the course of their research, they discovered that fiber made of bamboo wicks away moisture well. Bamboo has another advantage: "The more you wash them, the softer they get," Fleming says.

A pack of three pairs costs $15. Toe'ds is targeting high-end retailers. "If you try to compete on price, you're never going to make it," Bibby says. Anyone who has visited Costco or Wal-Mart knows socks have become a commodity.

So far, Bibby and Fleming have spent only $5,000 in startup costs by doing almost all the work themselves - despite holding down separate jobs. Bibby is a banking consultant, and Fleming is director of personnel for First National Bank of the Gulf Coast, a new bank in Naples (Fleming's boss has ordered 21 pairs to wear with his Sperrys). "I'd rather invest money to get the product out," Bibby says.

That's one reason Bibby and Fleming turned down the idea of patenting their design. They say that would have cost $10,000 to $20,000, and then they would have to spend thousands more to defend it. "We've been real frugal," Bibby says.

The entrepreneurial duo plans to obtain a bank letter of credit in case they get a big order. But for now, they're targeting high-end stores in Naples, golf pro shops, medical people who wear Crocs and sales over the Internet. "We're just going to figure it out when we get there," Bibby says of the possible growth. "We'll know when it gets burdensome."

Eventually, Bibby and Fleming hope to expand their brand to include other apparel. Toe'ds gear could include shirts, bags and a children's version of the socks called Tadpoles.

But their first priority now is to see how they can sell 3,600 packs containing three pairs of Toe'ds. They spent a recent weekend tallying up the inventory. "The reality is we're testing it," Bibby says.

Guys, there's hope.

-Jean Gruss