A couple of years ago, I built a boat with a friend, Mark.

A small, low-energy motorboat called the Wizard — named in honour of Nathaniel Herreshoff — known as the “Wizard of Bristol” — who did things differently and ignored the rulebook.

The idea was simple: could we move four people across and around the Solent — often rough water — at around 15 knots, using about £10 of fuel an hour?

This is a proof-of-concept boat which weighs the same as its payload and is constructed from bioresin, marine ply, 3D-printed joints and linen tape.

It works.

It’s changed how we live — less driving, fewer ferries, more time in the water, closer to the weather and our environment.

It also changed how I think — as I realised how little you actually need.

The question that followed

I’ve spent most of my working life in clothing — designing, making, and building ranges and businesses.

That’s included a 30-year relationship with Patagonia — working both in-house and externally, designing product that helped shape their global offer.

This first-hand experience gave me a clear view of the system.

There are good people trying to do the right thing. But even the best brands are working within a structure built for scale, speed, and margin.

The result is simple. Too many garments. Too much reliance on virgin materials. Supply chains stretched across multiple countries, moving product vast distances before it ever reaches the person who wears it — all driven by volume.

When Yvon Chouinard gave the company away in 2022, it really struck a chord with me. It was a decisive move that Patagonia could make because of its ownership structure.

It made me wonder what could be done differently.

That led to a different question:

If you started from scratch, how would you build the ideal company?

After a lot of thinking, the answer was simple.

• Make things from waste.
• Make them locally, with the shortest possible supply chain.
• Create products that require less maintenance from the user over time.

Because in the long run, that’s the only version that holds.

Why socks

Having looked at the scale of the problem, it felt more important to begin than to get it perfect — so I started somewhere.

Clothing broadly falls into two categories. There are garments that can be built to last a very long time — jackets, outerwear, pieces that justify durability. And then there are garments that, by their nature, won’t last forever — socks, underwear, things that are worn hard and replaced.

That’s where the real problem sits.

If something is going to be replaced, the question isn’t just how long it lasts — it’s how it’s made, what it’s made from, and what system sits behind it.

That puts the focus on the supply chain.

So the aim was simple: do one thing well.

Socks make sense. Most people wear them. They’re small enough to get right, and simple enough to control.

They’re also knitted with minimal waste — closer to a 3D-printed form than a cut-and-sew garment.

 Raw materials

“Shoddy”.

Not an adjective. A noun.

A process first developed in 1806 by Benjamin Law in Batley, Yorkshire — and rooted in the wool towns of West Yorkshire — where waste fibre (offcuts, surplus, worn garments) is mechanically broken down, respun, and made into new yarn. In our case, the yarn is undyed.

Use what’s already there. Waste is a resource.

That felt like the right place to begin.

What ShoddySocks is

For the past couple of years, I’ve been working with knitters in England who know exactly what they’re doing.

The yarn comes from recovered British wool. The socks are spun, knitted, and finished within a tight local radius. The supply chain is short enough to understand, and close enough to be accountable.

The product itself is straightforward.

Wool that thermoregulates properly — warm when it’s cold, cool when it isn’t.
Structure that holds its shape.
Reinforcement where socks actually fail.
Less washing, because wool doesn’t need it.
And a feel that improves with wear, rather than degrades.

They’re designed to be worn often, repaired, and only replaced when needed.

That’s ShoddySocks.

Why ShoddySocks exists

The global fashion system is unsustainable — it’s built on waste, excess and fragility. If we keep producing clothes the way we are, we’ll end up with nothing but landfill and no means to sustain ourselves.

ShoddySocks exists to prepare for that future by proving that we can make things differently — locally, circularly, and to last.

• Make only what we need.
• Produce it well, with the best supply chain.
• Create a product that enhances the sport life.
• Demand less in use — less washing, less energy.

Because in the long run, that’s the only way we’ll have anything left.