Sacred Heart University students launch ‘funky’ sock line
Puerto Rican firm Funky Socks and More launched its first collection of socks, featuring designs inspired by the island’s cuisine, culture and jargon in collaboration with Sacred Heart University students and the school’s advertising agency, Elemento 360.
The collection features 17 designs that reflect themes that identify and distinguish Puerto Ricans, such as “pasteles,” with or without ketchup?, “piraguas,” dominoes, the El Morro, or local phrases like “a fuego” and “Yo soy Boricua.”
Annette Giuliani-Marietti, with her husband Joseph Boucher-Martínez, are the founders and creators of Kamaleonic Fashion, parent company of Funky Socks and More and the new collection under the name “Monkey 23,” a local company that employs 15 people.
“Thanks to the great success we had with the ‘funky’ socks, we decided to create a collection dedicated to Puerto Rico to serve as a conversation piece for both Puerto Ricans who live on the island and for those in the diaspora who are proud of their culture,” said Giuliani-Marietti, who graduated from Sacred Heart University, like her husband.
For her part, Iliana Ballester, director and mentor of Elemento 360 agency, said Funky Socks and More “was one of the first customers who relied on the talents of our students and today we’re proud to see the extraordinary result of this collaboration.”
Students were in charge of the development of focus groups to learn about the tastes and themes that consumers prefer. In addition, they developed a contest among Sacred Heart students to choose the designs for this first collection dedicated to Puerto Rico.
The new sock collection will be available at the Funky Socks and More wagon in Plaza Las Americas, at Luis Muñoz Marin Airport concessions, Pure Soul in Old San Juan and through the sitio web. They are also available for fundraising events in schools or other organizations.
