Perfect Sock Permanent Style x William Abraham

 
About 50% of Permanent Style collaborations never come to fruition. The quality’s not right, or the cut, or some other aspect just can’t be perfected. Often the lead time proves to be too long. It makes you realise how difficult (and expensive) even the smallest product innovations can be. 

I’m glad to say that our latest project – the Perfect Socks – suffered none of these problems. In fact in some ways it exceeded my expectations. 

When the sock company William Abraham launched earlier in the year, I very quickly became an advocate of their approach to design and material. They dramatically upped the game for hosiery, producing a complete collection of socks made from the finest merino, silk and cashmere. The mixes were innovative, as were the designs. Here, finally, was a sock you could drape across an exquisite piece of bespoke footwear and feel they were both in good company.

But they didn’t have any green: the dark, racing green that I wear more than any other colour for its sheer versatility. It goes with navy and grey equally well, which no other colour can claim, as well as tan, brown and almost everything on the trouser spectrum. It’s not too formal or informal, and offers a touch of very subtle colour in an outfit. When guys are wearing silly stripes or primary colours, this is what they’re really looking for. 
 

Perfect Sock with Edward Green shoe

 
Bram (the founder of William Abraham) and I decided to create that sock together. He went off on a trip to his various producers in Italy, and came back with something a bit unexpected: the perfect merino/silk mix we were looking for, but in a fibre that was sitting in storage, having never been spun. They spun it for us and it turned out to be perfect. No failures here, no need for further iterations. 

To top it off, Bram added my perfect design to the sock: a standard rib, but with a subtle diamond weave running up the centre, replacing the middle rib. A very modern sock, but with a subtle nod to the ‘clocks’ that were often used as embroidered decoration on hosiery during the 1930s and 1940s.  

How to buy

These are very expensive socks. Available now on this special page of the William Abraham website for $88 a pair, they are the kind of purchase that will raise similar eyebrows to those that rose when you mentioned £4000 suits and £2000 shoes. But then they are the finest socks in the world.
 

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We are only making 100 pairs of the Perfect Socks, across all the sizes. So while there is no time limit on buying, they are a limited edition. You can buy them now, to get in before everyone else, but we expect them to arrive and be shipped out on December 8th. As we had hoped, certainly in time for Christmas. 

Permanent Style readers get the first chance to order. The page is not visible on the William Abraham site, so only those using the link can see it. The page will become open to other visitors on December 8 when the stock arrives.

The merino is super fine (16.5 microns) and the blended yarn (merino + silk) is a 2/80 title. What does this mean? Well, they feel substantial and luxurious on, but are light enough to wear through the summer and into the beginnings of (a British) winter. They have a touch of lustre – just enough to be noticeable but not enough to get you noticed. And they are certainly not sheer (unlike the lightest cottons and silks). 

These socks are certainly an indulgence – no matter how much money you have. I shall only be acquiring one or two pairs to start with, and will likely keep them for special occasions. But that’s how the best wardrobe-building begins, and is exactly what I said to myself 8 years ago when I started down the road of bespoke tailoring.

If you have any questions please have a look at the special William Abraham page, or let me know. I’m very proud of these socks, as I have been of all my collaborations, and I hope they bring as much pleasure to you as they will me. 

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facebook_calle.melin

They look wonderful. Is it possible to order it from an EU address so I don´t need to pay tariffs?

facebook_calle.melin

Thanks for the quick reply anyway.

Scott

Simon, please correct me if I’m wrong,but I’ve always thought that the sock color should be in the same color family as one’s pants. I love the color of this sock,but normally I would only wear it with an olive or dark green slack, which I don’t wear much. If I understand you correctly, you’re suggesting that this sock can be worn with a much wider variety of colors.

Scott

This is very helpful, thank you. I like your idea of using the subtle shades of burgundy and dark green. I’ve seen men wearing yellow or pink socks with navy or grey and quite frankly thought it looked ridiculous. I mostly wear socks from the british company Pantherella which makes an excellent sock. The Abraham sock it appears is on an entirely different level in terms of quality and design,very impressive.

Alex

Hi Simon,

Just confirming: these socks are “over-the-calf” socks, correct?

Thanks….

Alex

Further two questions: you mentioned ‘avoiding yellow’ — when should you avoid yellow socks? When may you wear them? I recall you wrote a post about how well canary yellow socks can be….

And about burgundy-coloured socks: are they all right if your shoes are also burgundy or oxblood? Or would it be best to avoid socks that match the colour of your shoes (not black on black; I think all of us know to avoid that — but burgundy socks and burgundy shoes? Brown socks and brown shoes? Beige socks with tan shoes?)….

Thanks.

Ken Y

I bought three pairs of Abrahams socks a few weeks ago, the only problem I have with them is they are almost to good to wear! Abrahams make seriously good hose I will order two pairs of these as I too love green socks and the right tone and quality is surprisingly hard to find, My Red Socks sell a lovely Green but only in Cashmere and they tend to be less hardwearing than Marino and Silk. Thank you Simon.

John C Vesey

Thank you again, Simon, for having introduced me to Bram and his terrific company. He has combined highly creative design with outstanding craftsmanship. I have bought multiple pairs of his socks and just placed an order for the new green pair. Bram had sent me a note today about his news, but I didn’t learn about the green socks until I read this email from you. Thanks and a happy Thanksgiving to you. While you Brits don’t celebrate this as we do, its sentiments are of value to all and please bear in mind that most of those who originated Thanksgiving were British citizens, including my predecessors.

John

Matthew V

A Happy Thanksgiving to John, from a fellow Vesey!

Paul Weide

At $88 a pair, I assume I’ll need to hand-wash them in chilled Evian. They certainly look worth it.

Anonymous

Simon
Do you have any info/knowledge on Whitcomb & Shaftesbury, and Stowers?
Thanks
George

john

Simon, what is the girth like on WA socks? I have ‘cyclists calves’ so OTC from Bresciani are too tight after a few washes, as are similar socks from a bunch of other makers. The only one I find that doesn’t cut off my blood supply are from Marcoliani. I very much like the look of these WA socks but if they only offer a standard fitting, rather than wide, then they’re not for me.

John

Hi Simon,
An excellent idea!!! Lovely color and design as well!
John

facebook_peter.leong.12

OMG i just placed an order for a pair.
Never have i thought i would buy a pair of usd88 socks…..
Hope it can reach my address in the US by Xmas and i will only be there to visit family.
Cant wait to receive them.

Tom

Out of curiosity, what’s the ‘toe box’ like, just rounded like pretty much everything out there or cut differently to match a standard foot shape (which isn’t rounded at all)?

Regards,
Tom

Tom

That’s one thing I don’t get, generally feet are more triangular than round on the front, with the big toe sticking out. I’ve found that with standard round fronts the big toe pushes the sock out and you are left with a lot of ‘flappy’ material around the smaller toes. I personally hate that and the reason why I never wear non-flex socks.

T.

Bernie

Hi Simon,

How would you compare your collab wool/silk socks with their S140 Piana 100% merino wool socks (classic)?

The socks look very tempting.

Bernie

Thanks!

Thomas Stephen

Hi Simon,

What are you thoughts after 5 years on these merino/silk socks and any other socks you’ve tried from William Abraham?

How did they hold up in terms of durability and comfort over the long term.

Thomas Stephen

I live in Sydney so it’s relatively warm 9 months a year. My feet also sweat quite a lot even in winter.

Assuming cost is not a factor but durability is important what would be ideal for me: pure silk socks, cotton (fil d’escocia / sea island) socks, thin merino socks (such as the William Abraham Piano) or these merino / silk socks?