When Galway start-up, Irish Socksciety, sent socks to Leo Varadkar in November – including their hurling-inspired “pull hard” pair – they never could have anticipated what happened next.

“He actually wore them at the EU Summit,” exclaims Joanna Zalech who, along with Alex Kieldanowicz, is co-founder of the company with the tagline “havin’ the craic from head to toe”.

There’s a huge picture in The Irish Times where he’s sitting and pointing at the socks and Theresa May is looking at them smiling… it was huge!

And since then, Joanna and Alex have been giving it socks – literally – with their quirky and cool designs with a distinct Irish accent, even though they are originally from Poland.

Head over heels

While both women grew up in Wroclaw – shopping in the same grocer’s, socialising in the same pub, travelling on the same tram – their paths only crossed in Galway.

“I came in for a wedding and I was supposed to stay here for a week,” explains Joanna, who had just completed a degree in publishing, “and this year is my 11th year in Ireland.”

Joanna Zalech of Irish Socksciety. \ Julia Dunin

Likewise, Alex originally came for a holiday but fell head over heels with the Irish culture and people. So?

“I got a job here as an architect,” she continues, adding that she recently celebrated 10 years in the country.

The girls were later introduced by a mutual friend and hit it off, but after Alex lost her job in the recession, Joanna had a lightbulb moment.

“Alex used to draw a lot of doodles and lovely little drawings that I always really liked and because I was trained as a publisher, I always felt confident enough to say: ‘You draw and I’ll publish it and we’ll make a business out of it,’” she says of their company Olyart, which they set up in 2011 to sell Irish souvenirs with a sense of humour such as postcards, coasters, shopping bags and fridge magnets.

Alex Kieldanowicz of Irish Socksciety. \ Julia Dunin

When Alex suggested adding socks to their range, however, the idea for a second business was born.

“When you look at fashion, socks are a big deal recently,” says Joanna, “by doing the research, we found that there was nothing as funky as we would like to see on the Irish market.”

Best foot forward

And after almost two years of research and planning, Irish Socksciety was launched in October 2017 with quirky, colourful and distinctly Irish designs and slogans to make you smile, from “You are my cupán tae” and “Did you turn off the immersion?” to “Steak, spuds and pull like a dog”.

But Alex and Joanna have put just as much thought into the quality as the look of the socks, which are made from combed cotton and reinforced from heel to toe for strength and softness.

At present, they are manufactured in Poland but, in the future, the girls would love to have them made in Galway.

“Hopefully one day we can get our own machines and produce everything ourselves, so fingers crossed,” says Joanna.

Retailing at €9 per pair, their socks are at the higher end of the market, but appeal to everybody from the business person who likes to “stand out” from the other suits to the hipster who wants to “make a statement”.

“Socks can ‘talk’ and they can say funny things and they can be part of your fashion outfit; not only a necessity that you need to put on,” says Joanna.

While the pair funded Irish Socksciety from their own savings (which was repaid in the first two months of sales), they are very grateful for the support of their local LEO office, which granted them an eVoucher towards their website and photography costs, as well as mentoring.

And just last month, they won the €3,000 elevator pitch competition at the Fuelling Ambition roadshow in Limerick in association with Enterprise Ireland and Network Ireland.

They have also been overwhelmed by local encouragement; from Galway business people and personalities who agreed to model their socks for their photoshoot, to messages of support from complete strangers.

“I can’t describe, how many emails, messages through social media, phone calls we got from Irish people to say: ‘Oh congratulations and good luck,’” smiles Joanna.

I think I can speak for both of us when I say that we truly love this country and running a business or doing anything really is just easy.

"You have your struggles, but we’ve got so much support from the country, from people around, that there’s no words that could describe it, honestly.”

And putting their best foot forward, this year they want to promote their subscription service (where customers sign up to get a new pair of socks in the post each month) and target the expat market abroad.

As well as hopefully seeing their socks on a few more pairs of famous feet.

Such as?

“Michael D Higgins,” smiles Joanna.

Visit https://irishsocksciety.com.

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