The Bitch is Back!*

*not talking about the author of this newsletter. To find out who i'm referring to keep reading.

Here we are - Spring 2024 is here (theoretically speaking considering we are in Sweden) another 8 weeks have passed and i'm devoted to keep this little update format alive as long as i actually have things to share.

When i joined Happy Socks (next newsletter will actually be my 1 year anniversary with the brand)

my biggest challenge & mission on a personal level was to see what we could do as a brand, that hadn't already been done.

Knowing they'd done pretty much everything (not even exaggerating here) from collaborations, events to campaigns and ambassadors i knew finding something that made sense but also hadn't been executed already, wasn't going to be an easy task - and of course that's what motivated and excited me, because if you did not know this about me, here's a spoiler - I love a good challenge.

The first thing i do when taking on a new gig is learn everything i possibly can about the brand, partner etc. So 2-3 weeks prior to joining the company i made it my business to learn and study the history of the pioneers in the sock game, from reading old articles, opening up my own memory book from when they used to be a client in one of the agencies i worked for, to listening to podcasts with the founders. I soaked it all in to make a better picture for myself of the who, what, why, when and where.

After taking the time to study the HS history i realised that for me, Happy Socks was; the Snoop collab,

the Ellen Von Unwerth Campaign with Stella Maxwell, the legendary colette collab, the Iris Apfel campaign etc

because that's where the brand had stayed in my head an innovative, unexpected pioneer within happiness and color.

Obviously, as a brand-first person, these were the impressions that had remained top of mind for me as they were relevant to their times and pop-culture influenced - two of the key ingredients when shaping the most powerful brands in my opinion.

Fun fact is that; in school, history was one of my worst subjects, worst in the sense that i was one of those kids who couldn't possibly understand why i needed to know what happened xyz years ago, i was always the "focus-ahead", innovation and visionary type of kid. So to become an adult who actually has learned to take advantage, learn from and appreciate history and be somewhat nostalgic about it - is a nice little personal development.

When doing my homework about HS i listened to a podcast with one of the founders, and the interviewer asked him wether they had ever done a fashion show for socks, and he said no. Immediately i knew this had to happen and that's how SOLID's launched at Berlin Fashion Week.

Why am i dwelling in all this history you might ask? well we just recently cleaned up and did an inventory of the Press room so it was all coming back to our attention.

Whilst we are on the subject of "firsts" - we were for the first time ever (to my knowledge) featured on VOGUE Runway.

We've been on Vogue, but never on Vogue runway and the even funnier part of that is that someone actually told me that wont happen as we are not a RTW brand. Yet, here we are one month later mentioned by the brilliant Laird Borrelli-Persson as a partner to the Swedish up-cycling duo Rave Review supporting their FW24 collection during Milan Fashion Week with our Happy Socks LAB concept. Im sure you are wondering what HAPPY SOCKS LAB actually is?

LAB is a yearly initiative, meant to explore new ideas and push the boundaries of design and craftsmanship. The motto for this project is "All Play, No Work", reflecting the team's desire to have fun and be creative without overthinking the process - we all know overthinking kills creativity.

For this year’s lab, Happy Socks teamed up with Rave Review in order to bring to life their show at Milan Fashion Week. By repurposing disused Happy Socks’ stock and samples into new socks, tights, and warmers, it was possible to create new and exciting looks in a more sustainable way.

Here is some behind the scenes footage shot by Conrad Bauer:

Whilst in Milan we continued our SOLIDS - Social Media Shoots with the concept of meeting locals and asking them about their secrets, in Milan we had the honor of shooting a "Sciura Milanese" with her little dachshund - i was truly living in a dream.

It's a winner, can't take credit for inventing the "man on the street" concept - if you haven't heard about it i'm sure you've seen it on socials and if you read the piece below you'll know the reasoning behind it;

I wont take credit for being the inventor of the concept - great job whoever that was, but will take credit for being quick on testing it for our own channels. For me a great marketer, a great communications expert and a marketing manager are quick on the moves when it comes to understanding how a brand can be inserted in the general convo on socials and in the trend driven comms landscape in hopes that in return it helps the brand become more relevant and relatable.

For us a first test was the "What are you hiding" concept when launching Solids. Meeting people on the streets in the cities of our key markets, New York, Berlin and now Milan and chatting to them about secrets, style and well, socks.

Find some of our videos on our instagram or tiktok

And before i leave the topic of the social media shoots, this just hit my inbox from Marocco and im sharing it with you first! The material sent to us by a freelance photographer we have been working with Guillem - Solids in Marrakech - a sight for sore eyes.

So about that headline and the B*tch? are you ready for it?

We launched a collaboration with the multiple Grammy-winning legend and flamboyant superstar Elton John, and celebrated some of his MEGA hits, such as The Bitch Is Back, Tiny dancer and Rocket man. The common grounds of this collaboration is definitely the power to be "unapologetically yourself" something i would say both Elton John and Happy Socks have in their DNA.

What else do i have to share in this update:

This interview with our CEO is pretty great if you ask me and if you are curious about the status of the company and where we are heading i recommend reading it.

Great job by Silk Relations GmbH and Lea Vogl securing this piece not only on the German site but also the english one.

For me, a personal win this month has been when recruiting a replacement for my very first side-kick at Happy socks who is leaving us for new adventures Ebba Greijer - not only did we get over 200+ applications for our CCC role - Communications & Community Coordinator but in the interview process together with HR it really confirmed to me that a part of the mission of "revamping" and putting Happy Socks back on the relevant map - is in full bloom - not only did the applicants mention "they've seen the updated socials and activations" but they were eager and excited to join the journey in ensuring we continue. That was music to my ears.

Another fun fact and ill end with that - some of the applicants had even been following this newsletter. Can we say that is employer branding done well? I would truly say so and for anyone who knows me or follows me on a personal level - they know i always try to show the full picture, the good, the bad and the things that aren't fully flawless because for me, to find the right people they also need to be aware of the tough and not so great parts of the job, the company and the overarching business - because whenever has perfect been interesting?

Here a little sequence from my instagram when i had 9 meeting in one day and truly was exhausted, but found myself laughing at the madness in between thanks to my brilliant team Pedro Spisla Ebba Greijer and Inaara Valentine and this - is exactly what i was missing when being my own - a team <3

Thank you for tagging along - leave a comment if this gave you anything or just so i know who you are. Until the next one, my 1 year celebration, New York and Awake collab pt 2 and who knows what else.

/ Aida