The Origin Story

The year is 2023. I am an engineer at Tesla, based in California, but back home in Florida for the holidays. 

Walking along the 4th green at the local club, not playing particularly well but enjoying the leisurely Sunday stroll, a hometown buddy asks:

An unassuming question from a fashion-aware, observant friend. 

Truth is, these socks were my favorite. The ones I snagged for every round, rain or shine. Ironically, they were - technically speaking - basketball socks. 

Unknowingly, I dove into a full-on marketing pitch: 

The response from my playing pards is the sole (pun intended) reason Del Campo exists today: 

Ah nice. Well. Why don’t you just make your own?

I’m not sure I focused on a shot the rest of the round. The prospect of making my own golf sock felt right. Random, slightly ridiculous, yet realistic. Part of me loved the idea of taking the simplest product on earth – a sock – and seeing how epic we could make that experience. 

If nothing else, I'd learn a ton in trying. 

Plus... there really wasn’t anyone making a high-quality, subtle yet stylish, golf sock. 

In other sports – football, soccer, basketball, track, you name it – socks are a pretty important accessory. As a former kicker for the Florida Gators football team, I remember distinctly having a preferred sock type. Material, length, compression, elasticity, durability all mattered.

After the round, paying a few debts and sipping the ceremonial lager, I went straight where you’d expect: an iPad. Designs were flowing. A palm tree. A lightning bolt. Blue stripes, one darker and slightly larger than the other. 

A smiley. 

This wasn’t no normal smiley – it was our smiley. Hand-drawn. Or, iPad drawn. Ever so slightly angled. Perfectly imperfect.  And it looked damn good on a sock.

We were off to the races. A side-hustle was born. 

Tesla was cool, but it wasn’t exactly exhilarating. A bunch of Excel trackers, exhausting performance targets, zero creative stimulation, and little to no reward for the work. 

The next 9 months were spent working full-time at Elon’s Fun House and then nights/weekends on this unnamed sock venture. 

Prototyping was a daily occurrence. Wear, wash, dry, wear the next day. 

Material. Length. Compression. Elasticity. Durability. I’d know it when I felt it. 

Finally, on about the 25th iteration, we nailed it. I had worn the same pair for three weeks – wear, wash, dry, wear again – and they were just as plush as they were on day one. The smiley still looked crisp. They were soft and comfy, but they had ventilation and could breathe. 

Premium golf socks, with a subtle design. Built for performance. 

All we needed now was a name…