Because if you want cycling socks made from one of the rarest materials ever used to knit a garment, you gotta pay for it. The first pairs will be hand delivered to Team QuickStep, on a hand-blown crystal foot form protected inside a Pelican hard case, at the Tour de France. QuickStep helped them test and develop the new Evo sock line, which are the lightest cycling socks DeFeet has ever made and include a carbon fiber option.
The only photos they’re releasing for now are pulled from this video, so we’ll just share that until they formally debut in a couple weeks. So, why spider silk? DeFeet founder Shane Cooper explains (from their press release):
“To celebrate the launch of our new EVO line, we’ve created a one of a kind sock we call the EVO® Spider Silk. Unlike any sock ever made, it is the first sock ever knit completely from the silk of the rare Giant Golden Orb Spiders of Madagascar. In fact, this sock will be only the fourth product ever known to be made from the material! The other items include a pair of gloves for Napoleon Bonaparte’s wife and a one of a kind bed linen. DeFeet Founder Shane Cooper will award the first of the EVO® Spider Silk socks to Team Quick-Step on the eve of the start of the Tour de France in July.
“This Golden Sock will be awarded to Quick-Step management and presented on a handblown crystal foot form in its own Pelican Case on the eve of the 2018 Tour de France,” said Cooper. “This is a $5000 pair of socks. And, yes, you can buy a pair,” he added.
The most intriguing part of the EVO project? The innovation possibilities for spider silk. “Spider silk is actually a protein that can benefit humanity in many ways, if we can learn to synthesize it,” Cooper says. “Some labs have made progress with this, and I believe we will move beyond oil-based fibers. Nature will lead the way, if we can copy her code. DeFeet is on that trail.”
Cooper finishes by saying “Imagine fiber that is 5x stronger than steel, light-weight as a feather and can be made using methods that create far less pollution than anything that currently exists.” DeFeet believes that’s a path worth following.”
