Scene socks started as an idea between Nick Atkins, Ben Kilner, Jamie Nicholls and Dan Wakeham whilst on a snowboard trip with the GB Snowboard team in Breckenridge Colorado.
With all of the best athletes tied up in athlete sponsorship contracts, a product was needed that wouldn’t be competing with the products provided by the sponsors. Many of the contracts stated that the athlete must wear the brand’s outerwear and lifestyle clothing but no mention of underwear. The decision was made to start a sock company!
With all of the best athletes tied up in athlete sponsorship contracts, a product was needed that wouldn’t be competing with the products provided by the sponsors. Many of the contracts stated that the athlete must wear the brand’s outerwear and lifestyle clothing but no mention of underwear. The decision was made to start a sock company!
Nick and Dan sourced a factory in Taiwan and sent them some designs. “Before long there was a delivery of sample socks, this was happening!”
The Ben Kilner, Aimee Fuller and Jamie Nicholls Pro Socks hit the market in 2012 and over 20 snowboard stores across the UK placed their orders. Later came the Jenny Jones Pro, Cheryl Maas and Billy Morgon socks. That is a team of Olympians and X-Games medalists willing to promote the brand because they were friends that wanted to help.
“This made up the whole ethos behind the brand and the name Scene. Being involved in the scene allowed us to maximize opportunities to create original photographic and video content around this host of world class sporting stars.”
This created a buzz around a product that was normally considered to be boring.
Nick Atkins is a photographer who followed the Team GB Ski and Snowboard Team to the Sochi 2014 Winter Olympics, he had also been distributing Grenade Gloves from California for the past ten years. Wakeham worked for Head Snowboards, was well connected to the industry and media. Together they designed socks, packaging and got product into the stores.
When you go into a snowboard shop looking for socks, you are faced with a wall of options and a ton of technical jargon that somehow seems to justify the high price. Scene socks were bright, funny and half the price of some American brands. The kids who ride the snow domes are riding several times a week all year round. They don’t want to spend over £20 on a single pair of socks. Scene had two styles: Thin – £12 and Thick £15
In 2016 the last run was produced. Dan Wakeham was moving in different circles as Marketing Manager at iON Camera and Nick Atkins was no longer working in Distribution. Times had clearly changed and it was time to gather lessons learned and move on to the next exciting projects.
Scene Socks has closed its doors but is not necessarily finished – Stay tuned…..
If you would like to purchase some Scene Socks then check out these retailers and snap up whats left:
Dan Wakeham 