A couple years back we went to Japan to participate in an "ekiden" running race. These races are typically relay races of a long distance fashion. This one - The Mt. Fuji Ekiden was a particularly silly one. Silly in the sense that it was maybe the most grueling race that we've ever done. Or maybe funny is a better word for it? Deliciously tough. Who knows? 

Brian Vernor was part of our crew, our team, and he put together this succinct little piece in Runner's World on our involvement in the race. It was a fantastic time and the entire thing looked and felt like nothing we've ever experienced before. Both from a cultural experience and from the way a running race unfolds. 

From Runner's World - The Mt. Fuji Ekiden - The Toughest Relay Race on Earth.

For our foray into the races we made some running kit and a couple handsome pairs of socks. The Navy Blue and Orange versions of the sock were the originals and the whole design was a concept thrown together by our friend Ichico (he's done a lot of cool design projects - like these Speedvagen kits). 

 All this is just so that we can say that we're stoked on the new colors of the Ekiden socks that have just landed in our online shop. Where do they come from? What inspired them? How do we even choose? 

We deliberated over the current fashion forecast for months and months. We looked through swatch books of thread colors and slept with pantone charts under our pillows at night (and sometimes during the day). And then we decided that all of that just sounded a little crazy so we just went for what felt good. 

A white one sounded necessary. Right? White for summer is always good. Makes you feel minty fresh, like that just brushed teeth feeling. Unless you too have gotten into that oil pulling craze. We're still skeptical. 

SHOP NOW - Summer White Candy Stripe

But, we couldn't just stop there could we? I'll answer that for you. We couldn't. Every iteration of the Ekiden sock has had a mate. A partner in crime if you will. A pillar to hold up the other side of the deck. Ok, maybe that one doesn't work as well. For the second one of the two we went with some darker colors with just a hit of color to make that shit pop, and lock. Azur seemed like a good name for it, so, by then we were off and running (so to speak) in the design department. We hope you like them. 

SHOP NOW - Azur

And it doesn't end there. You thought it might end there, but it doesn't. The Ekiden socks couldn't just come back on their own. There were too many requests for them. The stock was low in certain sizes and we just felt downright bad about that, so we re-upped on the previous colors just to make sure that no one felt left out. The Winter White didn't make the cut, but that's just because the new one was too close for comfort (ours not yours). 

SHOP THE ENTIRE EKIDEN COLLECTION HERE!