Sock it to me?

One of the business buzzwords that I’m most passionate about, in terms of despising, is the word “passion.” But passion is rapidly being replaced by the word “disruption.”

Yep, I more than agree that it’s happening. Zipcar disrupted car rental. Uber disrupted taxis. Dollar Shave disrupted razors. Amazon disrupted retail. And I know that, for investors, if they manage to glom on to a disruptor, that disruptor might turn into a unicorn (don’t get me going). Which will make everybody rich, other than the industry and companies being disrupted. Phooey on them, as they say. Disrupt or be disrupted. Burn someone else or find yourself on the ash heap of history. And, as the great Kurt Vonnegut once told us, so it goes.

Which I guess means we should make way for the new disruption in town: socks.

Yes, you heard right: socks.

The disruptor in waiting is Stance:

…a premium-sock startup that has managed to carve out a small place in popular culture. Stance has become the go-to hosiery of Hollywood actors, hip-hop stars, pro athletes, skateboarders, motocrossers and now at least one global leader. The San Clemente, California, startup accomplished this by making socks that promise durability, arch support and clever designs—and by cultivating a roster of celebrity investors, who promote the brand to fans. One backer, Jay Z, name-dropped the brand in his 2013 single “F.U.T.W.” (Source: Bloomberg)

Jay Z’s just one backer. Kleiner Perkins – an outfit not generally known for its cool – is in on it, as is August Capital (where a friend of mine, who I suspect is not in the market for $30 socks, used to work). And Justin Trudeau – you know, the Prime Minister of our neighbor to the north – has been seen sporting a pair, and we know how hip and happenin’ JT is. (Remember when we used to have a hip and happenin’ guy, not to mention thoughtful and measured, in charge? Sigh…)

All this smart money isn’t exactly betting on socks. they’re betting on Stance CEO Jeff Kearl, who was on the board of headphone disruptor Skullcandy.

Kearl says he became convinced the sock industry was similarly ripe for disruption, to use a favorite VC term. Socks is a commodity market dominated by low-margin products, but there’s really no such thing as a technological edge. Sales of adult socks in the U.S. total $4.8 billion annually, according to research firm NPD. That’s tiny compared with the $56 billion Americans spend on shoes or the even larger markets VCs are accustomed to going after.

Stance began by marketing to dudes – skateboarders, to be exact.

The timing proved impeccable, catching the wave of skater fashion moving to rolled-up pants. Stance’s socks can hold up to the beating skaters give them, thanks to a tight-knit weave and extra cushioning. Despite the high prices of $10 to $30 a pair, retailers say the socks sell briskly. Image-conscious buyers appreciate the brand’s avant-garde style of clashing patterns and colors, says Natalie Gamette, a sales supervisor at Hobie Surf Shop, located a short drive from Stance headquarters.

After conquering the boarders, Stance moved onto hip-hop, music, acting, basketball (until Nike beat them back, they had a deal with the NBA) and baseball. (Stance is the only sock worn in MLB. Who knew?)

However, more established brands, like Nike, are coming after them.

Even with VC backing, Stance won’t be able to outspend Nike and could struggle to hold on to the customers it has. “Stance is, for the most part, a millennial brand,” says Sucharita Kodali, an analyst at Forrester Research. “And millennials are really fickle.”

Well, they won’t be fickle forever. Everyone outgrows fickle at some point in the musical chairs that is life. Someday, there’ll no doubt be all sorts of flabby, nose-hair growing, geezer millennials who are still true to the Stance socks of their youth.

But I suspect there’s a somewhat limited market of folks willing to spend all that much money on socks.

Oddly enough, I’m part of that somewhat limited market.

I have always loved fun, colorful socks. And I have a long foot that’s getting even longer. Most women’s socks are designed for those with dainty little feet up to a size 9. When I was a mere size 10, I could almost get away with wearing most women’s socks. The narrow width of my foot – AAAA – gave me some wiggle room: what my foot didn’t take up in width could be used to elongate the length. And then my damned feet got even longer. I now wear a size eleven, and while me feet are still narrow enough, they’ve widened a bit to an AA. So less wiggle room in both directions.

In any case, my toes have a tendency to poke through socks if I try to Cinderella stepsister them into a regular sized woman’s sock. And men’s socks are generally too wide, and end up bunching up all over the place.

So a couple of times a year, I make a pilgrimage to Cambridge Clogs, a wonderful little store, not yet disrupted by Zappo’s, that sells socks in – get this – sizes. So I get to buy socks in fun colors and patterns, and, since my toe doesn’t bust through on the second wearing, they’re well worth the price.

Other than the white athletic socks I wear with my sneaks, I don’t wear socks during the summer. But in a few weeks, I’ll be checking my fun sock inventory and heading over to Cambridge to set in my stock for the winter.

Not sure if Stance has anything for women yet, but I’ll be on the lookout for their wares. Even though they won’t be disrupting my sock purchasing habits in the least.