KNOCK YOUR SOCKS OFF! – Stylish Dress Sock Designs for your Feet

BY: ALYSSA MAHADEO

Fun, Fashionable and Functional. It’s everything you could ever hope for in a dress sock and more.

Marisa Walcott was born and raised here in Toronto to Jamaican parents, hardworking and independent people that were very supportive of anything that their children chose to pursue.

“Both of my parents were hard working people, my mom was especially independent and instilled in me to always go after the things that I wanted in life,” Marisa shares.

“They always offered their support and raised me and my brother to be independent and to try new things that we were passionate about always supporting our dreams, and so I knew that one day if I decided to start my own business, they would encourage me instead of shutting it down right away.”

Seeing how hard her parents worked for them so that they could have everything that they needed, it laid the foundation for her to be someone in life who works really hard to achieve their goals.

In High School Marisa intended on pursuing a career in Journalism, and after she graduated went on to attend York University for Communications Studies and Sociology.

“I had an interest in creating stories, interviewing people and finding out about things in the news, and wanted to be able to seek out as much information as possible,” Marisa says.

“While I was in University things shifted for me and I ended up wanting to try my hand at Public Relations and Marketing instead.”

Upon graduation, while searching for a job, Marisa discovered the world of retail after applying for the position of Marketing Coordinator at one of Canada’s leading departments stores at the time.

“It opened my eyes to the world of retail buying and fashion, something that no one had ever really talked to me about and I never knew that world existed,” Marisa explains. “I completely fell in love with retail and I’ve never left the industry since.” 

Marisa’s experience in retail showed her many things she hadn’t known about the industry, the customer service experience and how people are marketed to.

“Everything about that role was rooted in customer service, making sure sale prices were right in the system, putting up sale signs and researching the competition to see what kind of sales tactics they were using to bring people in,” she explains.

She was surprised to see how many people were involved behind the scenes working to make a customer’s shopping experience as seamless as possible.

Even while working there, Marisa wasn’t sure that she wanted to go into buying and considered going to law school instead to utilize her love for seeking information and verbal communication.

An opportunity presented itself through a program they offered at her company called the Future Leaders Program where she would have the chance to learn the skills to become a buyer. Over 400 people had applied, and only 12 people were accepted to the program and Marisa was one of the lucky few.

“It was a turning point in my career of true fashion buying being in that training program they taught us how to buy, how to negotiate to work in the department store working in distribution and everything about buying products for major retailers.”

After graduating the program, she landed herself a job as Associate Fashion Buyer.

A few years later in 2016 one night after a rough day at work, Marisa drew up a business plan for her own company, something that she had always considered, but didn’t yet have the confidence to pursue.

“I was just thinking to myself I want to start something of my own, I feel so unfulfilled and it’s time that I start trying to do something, so I spent three hours that evening drafting a business plan,” Marisa shares.

Keeping it under wraps, Marisa didn’t immediately share her new pursuits, unsure if it was a working business plan, or if people might think she was crazy. She ended up sending it to her family and friends and they offered her their full support of the idea, so she started to get the ball rolling.

“I started the business out of a love for socks,” I’ve always wanted to start my own business and I wasn’t sure exactly what I wanted to do, if I wanted to do lineage or something else and I toyed with a couple of other ideas before I landed on socks, because I really love socks,” Marisa explains. “I already had the background product knowledge of it working in ladie’s socks and hosiery so I already knew what cost should look like and I already had a vendor base to reach out to.”

There was a lot of behind the scenes work to be done, laying the groundwork for the business, from registering the business, designing the socks, registering the trademark, and finding vendors to sell the product.

“It took me about nine months to get it off the ground and almost a year to get it on the market, but eventually it came to market in March 2017.”

Marisa hosted her own launch party with the support of her closest family and friends and everyone really loved it. “From there it took off on its own and I’m blessed that a lot of my family and friends became brand ambassadors, spreading the word through word of mouth really helping me out.”

KYSO dress socks are made of a blend of rayon from bamboo and cotton. The rayon from bamboo is particularly soft on the feet and is moisture wicking. So, it’s really good at keeping the feet cool in the summer, but warm in the winter.

Their mission is to create unique designs with bold and vibrant colors in every sock. They believe your socks should be a part of your outfit, and they should make a huge impression wherever you go!

“Right now we sell only men’s dress socks, but my goal is to expand into women’s, kid’s and other products, right now I’m focused on men’s socks because they will wear socks almost every day,” Marisa says. Women love her socks as well and her socks are really for people who love to stand out and accessorize their outfits to make bold impressions.

“Initially I design all of the socks myself, making sketches on napkins, and then I work with a graphic designer and send them out to suppliers to see if they can put those designs on socks,” Marisa explains.

Their biggest challenge at the moment is finding manufacturers to make the product, as many operators have moved offshore and it is difficult to find people who can make a reasonable stock. “It really comes down to leveraging the people around me to make sure that the business is on track, whether it’s graphic design, photography or marketing there are people in my circle supporting me.

Marisa can be found at various pop-up shops and markets year-round, meeting new customers face to face opposed to only selling online, allowing people to see the face behind the brand. She is always hoping to knock your socks off with her products providing bright colored high quality, and fun socks that make a lasting impression.

“Every time you buy one of my socks, you are supporting a dream and it’s nice to know that my community supports me in this venture.”