Bridgedale Goes Casual with ‘Bamboo Patterns’ Socks for Women

Bridgedale—the sock manufacturer with a 100-year history and reputation for building technical outdoor socks of the highest quality—is launching a new lifestyle category of socks for women called ‘Bamboo Patterns.’

The Bamboo Patterns collection builds on Bridgedale’s success with its Bamboo Series, which came to market in 2009. Those socks, intended for active use, were “our first socks that really resonated with Bridgedale fans for every day use and gave them an option to wearing hiking socks to work,” said Chris Lussier, Bridgedale’s North American brand manager. “Now our proven bamboo yarn formula will be in socks styled with everyday pizzazz.”

In the new socks, Bridgedale blends undyed viscose from bamboo with COOLMAX® to create silky-feeling socks that control and dissipate clammy, uncomfortable moisture. The company’s proprietary WoolFusion® process—which wraps a high performance synthetic fiber around a natural fiber to create a ‘fused’ yarn—is used in the socks. The process yields multi-tasking yarns that both absorb moisture and wick it away, while providing exceptional durability. Additionally, according to Lussier, “two of these socks are technically different than other lifestyle socks because the construction method actively helps aid ventilation.”

The Bamboo Patterns collection comes in four styles called Fleur de Lys, Stripes, Argyle, and Copperhead. The crew-height designs capitalize on Bridgedale’s experience in women’s-specific fit, which is tailored for the typically narrower and lower volume feet of women. Bridgedale was the first company to introduce a women’s-specific outdoor sock in 1992.

The four-style collection will debut at Outdoor Retailer Winter Market in January and will arrive in stores for the Fall ’10 season. Bridgedale will also introduce its Bamboo Hiker and Women’s Bamboo Hiker at Winter OR. All told the company will have ten bamboo-based styles in its Fall 2010 line.

Bridgedale’s bamboo sock program supports the Plant A Booâ„¢ campaign, which is dedicated to promoting bamboo’s bright future as a domestic agricultural crop and as a tool for carbon mitigation. For more information, visit both www.booshootgardens.com and www.bamboonow.us.

About Bridgedale
Bridgedale specializes in socks, with nearly 100 years of knitting experience behind every pair. Based in Newtownards, Northern Ireland, Bridgedale’s heritage includes continuous manufacturing in a community that supplied socks to the British soldiers of World War I and created ladies’ hosiery for over 40 years. Today’s line of technically advanced socks for skiing, outdoor, sport and every day use are created by experienced craftsmen that carry on a tradition of innovation—including WoolFusion® yarn technology, the first women’s outdoor socks, and sculpted cushioning. Bridgedale also owns and operates a factory in South Africa. Bridgedale is sold worldwide; Garmont North America, Inc. distributes the Bridgedale brand in North America. For more information, visit bridgedale.com.