SmartWool was born with comfortable performance in mind. The founders were New England ski instructors struggling to keep their feet warm. After trying a variety of materials, they rediscovered an age old classic: wool. Wool was warm but it was itchy & shrank in the wash. So they worked on a process to make them soft & easy to care for. SmartWool was born to keep feet comfortable in all conditions, which was a hard sell. No one believed that a wool sock could be anything but itchy. The instant people tried them they were awestruck with SmartWools soft luxurious feel. They were even more surprised that their feet stayed comfortable for extended periods of time in mixed weather conditions. Instead of getting clammy, the SmartWool socks stayed dry, soft & comfortable. The founders then realized that they had to get their socks on as many people as possible to let them speak for themselves.