Martha_Stewart_Living_-_February_2016_USA__

BRYAN GARDNER (SOCKS)

Little River

Sock Mill

2015 INDUSTRY WINNER

Gina Locklear

Fort Payne, Alabama

littleriversockmill.com

This family-run

business creates

high-quality socks

from organic-

ally grown cotton.

A Loom With a View

With Little River Sock Mill, one young entrepreneur is hoping to revitalize the sock industry that

once thrived in her small hometown—one colorful organic-cotton pair at a time.

PHOTOGRAPHS BY NICK BURCHELL

GINA LOCKLEAR WAS BORN AND RAISED in Fort Payne,

Alabama, the former sock capital of the world. And like many

in this scenic town, her family was in the sock business. Her

parents opened their mill in 1991, producing private-label

socks for designer brands. But when manufacturing began

moving overseas in the late ’90s, many factories shuttered.

“I was young then, but it was very hard to watch mills close

up and people lose their jobs,” Locklear recalls.

Her parents’ mill survived, but not without struggle. And

Locklear never forgot that feeling. She decided to take action.

“I thought if I could make our own brand instead of someone

else’s, maybe we could keep our doors open,” she says. She

got her feet wet in the business, so to speak, with her first

SOUTHERN

COMFORT

1. Locklear’s
   styles range
   from anklet to
   over-the-knee.


2. Machines
   turn her sketch-
   es into socks.


3. Spools of
   organic-
   cotton yarn.


4. Locklear’s
   new patterns
   for the winter.

brand, Zkano, offering brightly colored fashion and sports

socks. Four years later, she launched a second, more so-

phisticated line, Little River Sock Mill, featuring charming

plays on color and patterns. Everything—design, weaving,

packaging, and shipping—happens on-site. For Locklear,

there was no question that the material would be organic.

“It’s better for our health and the environment,” she notes.

Today, Locklear is hopeful that manufacturing will return

to the U.S. One new factory has just opened, with hopes of

more to follow. Little River is also expanding its offerings,

launching a men’s line this fall. And a children’s collection

is also in the works. “I think it will be a different scene in

the next 10 years,” Locklear says. “It’s looking bright already.”

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GOOD LIVING

American Made