Our Kickstarter Story

In February 2015, Ray Willmoth launched his brand Fortis Green with a 30 day crowdfunding campaign through Kickstarter.

His idea was to take his industry knowledge and to dissect and perfect every single aspect that goes into making a pair of men’s luxury socks including design, material, construction, manufacturing and finishing.

The story started almost a year earlier in London where Ray had spent almost a decade working as a men’s accessories product developer. Working in this industry meant exposure to countless brands of men’s socks and though there were plenty of colourful design socks in the marketplace, there were none that met Ray’s exacting standards on all aspects of truly luxurious quality.

The idea behind the Kickstarter campaign was to create the ‘Ultimate Pair of Men’s Luxury Socks’. From the use of mercerized cotton to create a sock that won’t shrink or pill, to the wash provided by Swiss textile company HeiQ that gives the sock a silken handfeel, to the single ribbed welt, the seamless hand linked toe, the reinforced heel and toe and the extra leg length, Ray has considered every technical aspect that goes into making a pair of socks, coupling this with a bold colour palette inspired by a collection of Art Deco posters from the 1930’s, giving each design a unique design story.

After almost a year of sampling and testing, the range was launched to the Kickstarter community and the response was astounding. The funding target was met within the first 48 hours, with Fortis Green going on to sell almost 1000 pairs of men’s luxury socks by the end of the 30 day campaign.

So far all the feedback from our Kickstarter backers has been amazing, proving that there is a real demand for quality men’s socks in bold and colourful designs. The result is the Fortis Green sock range available today.

You can look back at the full Fortis Green Kickstarter campaign HERE