UPDATE MARCH 2013:

We have received the socks and are shipping out orders over the next few days. Keep an eye out for your CM&S socks, and thank you for the support!

Our full online store will launch in the coming week or two, but you can stay updated by following us on Facebook or Twitter:

• https://www.facebook.com/charlesmarkandsons
• @CharlesMarkSons

Again, thank everyone for your support!

Cheers

Eliot, Josh, and John 

UPDATE 1/3/2013

We have received orders from 14 countries, including United States, Canada, Australia, Ireland, United Kingdom, Italy, Germany, Switzerland, France, Turkey, Netherlands, Russia, Greece and Czech Republic.

Thanks for your support!

UPDATE 12/26/2012

We have officially hit our initial target of $13,500!

We are diligently pressing forward in our campaign efforts in hopes to donate as many socks as possible. We truly appreciate the encouragement & support we continue to receive on this project.

Please feel free to watch a quick thank you video we have prepared: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x4toqT3ufKg 

Again, thank you to everyone who has helped us get this far. Onward and upward!

John, Eliot, and Josh

Co Founders, Charles Mark & Sons

OUR STORY

MISSION
Our mission is simple - to create high-quality socks for the modern, stylish man. Your socks are an expression of you. They make you unique. They separate you from the crowd. Our company embraces the individual who wants to stand out, who wants to look sharp, and who wants to make a difference.

OUR INSPIRATION

Charles Mark & Sons is named after our fathers - Charles, Charles and Mark. Each of these men has made a positive impact on our lives and has instilled in us a drive towards philanthropy. Our vision is to establish a brand that is worthy of their names: creating great products and helping those less fortunate.

CHARLES MARK IS… 1) High quality materials for superior comfort and durability, 2) Bold, classic, versatile designs to add some "oomph" to your style, and 3) Socially responsible to help improve lives one at a time.

 

HOW IT BEGAN
We’ve detailed the history, vision and values of our brand below and hope you will give it a read. We’ve spent the past several months perfecting the design and manufacturing samples to our precise specifications. We have also been networking to expand our name recognition and our future distribution channels. We are excited to launch Charles Mark & Sons and we look forward to seeing where this project takes us. Thank you in advance for your support and for helping make a difference!

"BLUE TIPS" BY CHARLES MARK & SONS: COLOR COMBOS

Our first line will feature blue "tips" - that is, cuffs, heels and toes. Check out the color combos for our first line below! We hope you like them as much as we do.

HELPING THE HOMELESS
We have teamed up with the The Joy of Sox®, a nonprofit with a noble mission: to provide new socks for the homeless. There are over 600,000 homeless individuals living in the United States each night and over 1,500,000 homeless individuals and families living without shelter each year. Although many companies donate clothing to the homeless, the one thing that is often missing among the donations is socks. Without socks, people are more susceptible to varying types of bacterial, fungal and viral infections. These infections, and foot-related ailments such as swelling, blisters, and frostbite, can be largely prevented by the simple act of wearing clean socks. We are excited to be helping The Joy of Sox in their mission to provide new, clean socks to the homeless!

SOCK FOR SOCK™
For each pair of Charles Marks that you purchase, we are donating one new pair of socks to those in need. We chose the buy one, give one model because it makes an immediate and tangible difference. Hopefully you have already "met" the founder of The Joy of Sox, Tom Costello Jr., AKA “The Chief Sock Person”, in our video. With Tom’s guidance and a little scientific research of our own, we have designed a crew sock with the perfect cotton, polyester, and spandex blend. The main purpose of this sock is to absorb water and keep the wearer as comfortable as possible – which will help stave off infection and unquestionably improve the wearer’s quality of life.  Tom was an integral part in the development of the sock and Oprah Magazine has taken notice of his efforts with The Joy of Sox, recently featuring him as a guy "we like". We agree!

FROM VISION TO REALITY

The two fundamental principles behind our project are: 1) to create a men’s fashion brand catered to those who put thought and take pride in their wardrobe and 2) to give back to the community and align our brand with a noble social cause. A number of men’s accessories or clothing items were discussed for our first production, but we chose socks due to their inherent nature of bringing an outfit together while allowing the wearer versatility in his everyday-wear.  

For example, take a standard navy suit and white dress shirt. Pretty average right?  Complement the suit with a pair of bold colorful socks and you’ve got a memorable look for any occasion, be it the workplace, wedding, or a night out. If you open up the latest edition of GQ or Details magazine, you’ll notice that most of the models, including those advertising suits, are not wearing any socks. This begs the question -- If you wanted to start a fashion business, why would you start by selling socks?! Well, fortunately we live in the real world where each of us wears a suit to work each day. We're not sure about your workplace, but we could never turn up to a meeting wearing a nice suit, a dapper tie, and dress shoes while being sockless. Socks are important, and you can tell a lot about a man by his sockwear. This also worked well with our philanthropic goals as socks are not only stylish but also serve an important practical purpose in a gentleman’s ensemble.

THE FINAL PRODUCT

Below is a sneak peek into the CMS sock sleeve.