"Add color to socks." Until then, socks had only been focused on functionality and durability, but Happy Socks, a Swedish brand, has elevated them to a fashion item. Since its launch five years ago, the brand's recognition has skyrocketed, and it is now sold in 17 countries, including wholesale. We spoke to Mikael Soderlindh, one of the founders, about the happy brand story.

--First, can you tell us about the brand's history?

The brand is young, having been founded only five years ago. The reason we started the company was because there were no colorful, well-designed socks. Even if there were, they were either novelty items, featuring characters, poor quality, or extremely expensive. So I wanted to create colorful socks that were reasonably priced, high quality, and available at the stores I frequent. That would make everyone happy, right?

--Happy Socks became a hit soon after its founding. What's the secret to its growth?

Until now, there hasn't been a culture like Happy Socks that focuses not only on design but also on lifestyle. There aren't many brands that focus solely on socks. Socks weren't that important to other brands.

-- Your website says that you had a clear marketing strategy, but what exactly does that mean?

The world is a very small place these days. Our brand quickly spread around the world through bloggers and Facebook.

We've achieved an important position now, but when we started the brand in 2008, it was the early days of the blogger boom. Five years ago, we sent a catalog of our socks to bloggers. At the time, press releases were sent to journalists and the like, and bloggers never got to read them, right? So five years ago, they seemed happy to be treated like members of the press.

First, we sent emails to magazines and bloggers around the world with the press release attached, saying, "Hello. We've launched a brand called Happy Socks. Would you like to try our products?" Then it was featured on a blog. Magazines look for ideas from blogs, so eventually our products started to be featured in magazines. From there, we started traveling to various countries and negotiating with select shops and the like. That's how it spread among internet users and became popular (laughs).

--It's certainly a method that makes sense now, but it was very innovative at the time. So that was one of your major strategies.

That's right. Sweden is a very small country. Very small (laughs). Business within Sweden alone is not enough, so we are always developing a global strategy.

--How many directly operated stores do you have around the world now?

Not directly operated stores, but Happy Socks stores (laughs), three each in Japan, Hong Kong, Taipei, and South Korea, and 15 to 20 stores in Sweden, London, New York, and Dubai. We also have agents in 17 countries and wholesale 8,000 types of products. I've been traveling all over the world for five years to develop new markets (laughs).

--Happy Socks has given us a new concept in socks, but have you come across similar items in other countries?

Japan and the UK have sophisticated socks. Japanese and British people want to wear socks that are of high quality and made from high-quality materials, even if they are a little more expensive. When I started the brand, Paul Smith was making colorful socks, but they were still traditional, like stripes or argyle. In Japan, there were already unique socks that mixed materials for women, but not for men. Now they're everywhere (laughs).

--Is that because of Happy Socks?

That may be true. I think customers started to enjoy colorful socks. Socks were a forgotten thing, boring, and no one wanted them for anything other than functionality. But when you add design and creativity to them, they become a lot of fun.

--It's true that five years ago, my closet was full of black and gray socks. Recently, however, things have become more and more colorful, and clothes have become simpler in color to coordinate with them. In that sense, it can be said to be a proposal for a new style.

Viktor Tell (designer) often says, "Fashion starts with socks." He says that the first thing you do when you wake up in the morning is put on socks, and then you decide what to wear. That's why Happy Socks focuses solely on socks. Rather than socks as the essence of something else.

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