Jyothika, the founder of Feet Picks, did not grow up dreaming of starting a socks brand. In fact, her background is entirely in marketing.
“I grew up in Kochi. I was in Bombay for college and went to Xavier’s for my undergrad,” she says. After that, she worked in Delhi and Kochi with startups and corporates. Over the years, she took on freelance projects and continued to build her marketing career.
But somewhere along the way, she felt the need to start her own thing. “I figured I wanted to do something of my own. And Kochi felt comfortable doing that,” she says. That “something” turned out to be socks. This eventually led to Feet Picks, a Kerala-based socks brand that combines playful design with a practical solution called the Sock Lock, currently in the patent process.
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The Missing Socks Problem
The idea for Feet Picks began with a very common problem people faced.“While I was doing research for Feet Picks, I realised a lot of people have this issue, where your socks keep going missing,” she says. It was something she personally experienced, so she validated it with others.
That’s how the idea for the “Sock Lock” was born, a small tag that helps keep pairs together. The concept is currently in the patent processing stage.
But the brand did not begin with just a problem. It also began with a pun. “I think I saw a sock brand and told a friend, won’t it be funny if there was a brand called Feet Picks for socks?” she laughs. “The first thing I did was take the domain. Even if I wasn’t doing it, I just wanted it.” That joke became Jyothikha’s first business.
Why Socks, Though?
Jyothika noticed that everyone was starting t-shirt brands. Socks, on the other hand, felt underexplored. “There’s a market for socks. And I believe we’re evolving to not just wearing your personality on your sleeve,” she says. According to her, socks are a subtle way to express personality. The long-term plan is to expand into other categories like boxers and accessories, “anything apart from a t-shirt.”
Feet Picks started officially in September. Until recently, she was managing both a full-time job and the brand. “It got too hectic for me with everything,” she says. She has now taken a break from full-time work and is focusing on freelance projects alongside building the brand.
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Learning Fashion from Scratch
“My entire background is just marketing. I know content,” she says. That meant she had to learn everything from scratch, right from materials to stitching, thread count, and production.
Feet Picks socks are made from 100% cotton and finished with an anti-odour wash. “Someone who’s been using socks for a long time knows stinky feet are the worst,” she says. “So I was very particular about the material that we used.” The anti-odour finish is an extra step added at the end of production to help keep the socks fresh for longer.
Jyothika works with one designer, but the process is collaborative. “We sit down, do mood boards and all of that,” she says. She draws inspiration from pop culture, cute animals and playful prints. Before launching, they tested multiple designs and studied what people responded to. “It’s a lot of experimentation. But again, very fun to do these designs.”
Building Feet Picks as a Solo Founder
Running Feet Picks is not glamorous, especially because Jyothika handles almost everything herself. “Apart from the designer who helps with design, everything is handled end-to-end by me,” she says. That includes operations, vendor management, finance, tech, ads, content, shooting and editing.
“We’re not going to be making money out of this anytime soon. So I still have to pull out freelance or a full-time gig,” she says honestly. But she sees this as a learning journey. “Even if it doesn’t go crazy big, I think it’s a lot to learn. It’s funny to do the content. It’s fun.”
If you’d like to check out Feet Picks, click here.
