Jan 14 2011
COOLMAX® EcoMade socks, made with fiber containing 97 percent recycled resources such as plastic water bottles, returns to the Outdoor Retailer Winter Market in Salt Lake City from Jan. 20-23 to showcase significant advancements in product and brand development.
Event participants are invited to the COOLMAX® EcoMade Socks Booth (#37061), to learn more about the production process, the many benefits of using COOLMAX® EcoMade fiber, and how the brand has expanded steadily into the legwear market. In addition, mixers will be held at the booth on Jan. 20 and 21, from 4–6 p.m.
Many performance and lifestyle brands including DeFeet, Injinji (#38166), Dansko (#18027), Fox River (#28043) and Sports Tuff are injecting the best of style, comfort and moisture management into COOLMAX® EcoMade socks for everything from high-performance sports like cycling and long-distance running to everyday comfort.
COOLMAX® EcoMade socks are an INVISTA apparel product innovation that have been designed and engineered to incorporate recycled raw materials that have been diverted from landfills. Tests show that COOLMAX® EcoMade socks have wicking performance just as well as their virgin resource counterpart, making them ideal for a variety of uses.
“With COOLMAX® EcoMade socks, consumers do not have to sacrifice style or performance standards in order to wear apparel manufactured from recycled resources. There are now literally hundreds of styles of COOLMAX® EcoMade socks available nationwide in almost every color and design for both men and women,” says INVISTA Global Legwear Director Denise Sakuma. “To have such a diverse list of brands using COOLMAX® EcoMade socks is a testament to the importance of products with environmental benefits in the legwear market.”
The process for making COOLMAX® EcoMade socks begins with post-consumer bottles made of polyethylene terephthalate, or PET, being cleaned and converted into polymer flakes. The flakes are then converted into chips, melted and extruded into fiber designed to provide high-performance, permanent wicking benefits. This fiber is then spun into yarn for legwear.
Made with a 4-channel cross section for outstanding moisture movement, COOLMAX® EcoMade socks dry quickly, help keep the wearer cool and comfortable, maintain a natural feel that’s soft, lightweight and breathable, and are permanent and effective.
To further educate consumers on the many benefits of COOLMAX® EcoMade socks, and the vast array of multi-purpose socks being manufactured, INVISTA has launched an awareness campaign that includes print and online advertising, public relations efforts, promotions and a new informational microsite.
The campaign, simply called “Imagination,” aims to explain the high-tech process of turning plastic bottles into socks in an enchanting new way. The advertising campaign and microsite feature lively animated robots, each with a unique name and function, going through the steps of the bottle-to-sock process by slicing, dicing and threading. The accompanying headline reads, “COOLMAX® EcoMade Fiber -- 97% recycled plastic bottles, 100% imagination.”