Welcome
01Our Purpose
We exist to bring comfort, confidence, and community to a life lived outside.
02Our Story
What is Smartwool?
The Smartwool community is a collection of people who believe that time outside is valuable, restorative, and essential for everyone.
When we started making socks back in 1994, our founders simply wanted to be able to ski longer without getting cold toes.
That’s when they discovered the benefits of Merino wool as a performance fabric. It was soft (softer than any wool they had ever felt), moisture-wicking, thermoregulating (warm when it’s cold, and cool when it’s warm), sustainable, and odor-neutralizing—helping to keep feet dry, comfortable, and warm for longer than the synthetic socks they were wearing at the time. It worked so well, in fact, that we use it in almost every single item we make.
We were the first outdoor company to make performance Merino wool ski socks—revolutionizing the category and forever changing the way outdoor enthusiasts viewed their feet.
Our whole brand was built on the desire to be comfortable on outdoor adventures—we wanted to go farther and experience more. And that drive continues to fuel everything we do. From our Merino wool supply chain to our Smartwool advocacy program to how we design our socks and apparel, we exist to help you play, live, and laugh in the great outdoors as often as you would like.
03Our Values
Openness
We strive to be more transparent every day. From sharing more about our supply chain to simply letting people know the direction we plan on heading, we want to build and maintain trust with our customers and friends.
Advocacy
We believe in doing everything we can to sustain and preserve our one-of-a-kind, awe-inspiring environment. From building trails to partnering with organizations that protect nature, the Smartwool community wants to help give everyone the opportunity to experience the joy of the outdoors.
Action
We relentlessly pursue our goals. It’s one thing to say something and it’s another to do the thing you say. We want to back our desires with actions that put things in motion. We know that the most difficult problems are always the most rewarding to solve.
Inclusivity
We believe that the outdoors belong to no one and, at the same time, to everyone. We believe in being compassionate, actively kind, generous, and accountable to everyone. What’s the good of creating all of this if we can’t share it?
Fun-Loving
We got into this whole thing (socks, base layers, etc.) because it’s fun to be outside. We hope to never lose sight of the thing that inspired us to create all of this—the joy of being in wild places. We want our gear and culture to inspire joyful, spontaneous, and wild moments in the outdoors for everyone, including ourselves.
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So, what is Smartwool?
We are a group of insatiable outdoor adventurers who want to share the joy of crisp powder turns, try-hard first ascents, scrambly summit sunrises, pine needle-cushioned hikes, and s’more-filled weekends with everyone.
And we share those things by creating Merino wool clothes designed to help you go far and feel good. We help people experience powerful, beautiful moments in the outdoors by working to remove distraction like clammy base layers and blistered feet, so you can focus on the adventures right in front of you.
We exist to enable your every adventure, whether it’s taking your dog for a walk on a chilly morning or summiting an unclimbed peak in the Himalayas.