Tender’s rib indigo cotton socks are knitted and hand linked in England entirely from rope-dyed indigo cotton weaving yarn, spun and rope-dye dipped 25 times in Japan to an almost black colour which will fade and wear like a pair of Tender jeans. They are left in their ‘unborn’ natural state, as they come off the knitting machine, and will shrink to fit with the first wash. The loose white thread at the top of the rib edge is water soluble and shows where each sock was separated from the last- it will disappear with the first wash.

Traditional hosiery (like these socks) is knitted as a long continuous tube of many socks, which are then cut apart into individual socks. These are then linked, which means that the open sock has the two sides knitted together, leaving a flat, seamless, join at the toe. Linking requires the operator to loop every corresponding stitch of the top and bottom of the sock, by hand, onto a knitting machine.

The indigo yarn is not suitable for knitting with nylon, so unlike standard Tender socks these are 100% cotton, with a plain knit sole. The toe is closed with ecru yarn, echoing the stitching on Tender jeans- it will blend in with the rest of the sock as the indigo fades and transfers with wear and washing.

A one-off test pair of cushion sole socks with ecru nylon has a denim-like texture and wears thicker than the standard 100% indigo socks.

When new, you will experience some colour transfer from the raw indigo, and care should be taken with light coloured garments and furniture. Please wash separately or with similar colours for the first few washes, after which time there should be no more colour transfer.