Page 165 - Demo

163They figured out that if the socks had greater elasticity at the base than at the top and were made of a special fabric, they would sort of push themselves up.In the 1970s, keeping your socks pulled up was one of the major issues of the day. Back then, long socks and shorts weren%u2019t just for bus and taxi drivers %u2013 they were for almost every bloke, at a time when they all got their knees out when the temperature exceeded 19 degrees.Someone who felt the pain of this issue was Malcolm Patten, the chief designer at Holeproof (a company that made its fortune selling socks and jocks). A bona fide sock nerd, he summoned his colleagues Geo%u00a0 Lee and Max Wilkinson, and together they measured hundreds of feet to hatch their plan.They figured out that if the socks had greater elasticity at the base than at the top and were made of a special fabric, they would sort of push themselves up. Although no computers were used in their development, this creation became known as the Computer Sock %u2013 a name inspired by the emerging trend for computers at the time.Released in 1980, the gravity-defying socks quickly became a hit, selling more than 10 million pairs in the first decade and quickly being licenced overseas.They were boosted by a clever television commercial set in a patent o%u00a0ice, where the inventor of the sock tells Isaac Newton about his discovery, declaring with glee, %u2018They fall up, not down!%u2019 This revelation causes Newton to rethink his theory of gravity.Recent years have again seen the rise (sorry) of socks with shorts, particularly thanks to the%u00a0 bizarre trend of wearing socks with slides, so%u00a0 it%u2019s a good thing Computer Socks are still in%u00a0production.Also still in production is Malcolm%u2019s other vital contribution to Holeproof and to our feet: the much-loved Explorer sock, a thick, plush sock designed for those cold winters.YEAR 1980DESIGNERS Malcolm Patten, Geo%u008b Lee and Max WilkinsonMANUFACTURER Holeproof