"It was one of those busy Monday mornings where the corporate world are answering to their weekend hangovers and the inbox is inundated with emails, you know, the type you need nerves of Valerian Steel to deal with. However, there was one email that caught my eye; the subject simply reading "Tigers" and within a few clicks, WWF was informing me that this year marked the first in conservation history that the population of Tigers had increased; this put a big smile on my face.
Later that day the Tiger email kept coming back to me and eventually spurred a "what if" moment…”What if” we could put Tigers on your socks and by wearing them the Look Mate community could help Tigers too?”
When I asked Hedof about this, he replied:
“Awesome idea to raise money for WWF, I am very involved in the environment and the future of this planet and all its beautiful nature… I wanted to portray something "cool" and "fierce" on the socks, a little something that is hidden most of the time but every now and then you see a flash of the tiger that boosts your mood and feeling. I wear yellow and pink socks all the time …. but it is a little detail that shows who I am and I feel confident to rock some cool pink socks and I hope Look Mate’s customers will too”.
It was these initial moments that cemented the origins for the latest edition to the Look Mate catalogue and thusly formed the fabric for their next forward thinking design; The Tiger Sock. With the ethically driven ideas in motion, it was time for our next designer Rich Berkelman to host his creative energies by engineering a design.
Tasked with this mantra, Rich resourced his passion for contemporary illustrations and together with his signature use of bold shapes, ebullient flavours, eccentric characters and vibrant hues, the vision had all the fitting ingredients to come alive. This synergy of vision and creation resulted in a contemporary and fierce blend; a sock that offers its wearer subtlety yet concurrent bursts of flavour and zest. Its bold, black canvas dotted with fruity pink and orange hues is characterised with jungle motifs and true to its name and ethos, the foot and ankle are adorned with cartoon-like tigers.
The standout organisation able to connect Look Mate’s next project to the wildlife is World Wide Fund for Nature. WWF embodies an international non-governmental organisation that is striving toward combating the consequences of humanity’s footprint on our environment and furthermore the wildlife that inhabit it.
One iconic animal in particular, the Tiger, has seen exceptional efforts fought in its name to reverse its deteriorating numbers. Despite a staggering drop in Tiger population by more than 95% over the past century, this was the first time in conservation history an animal’s population has increased and is a stark victory for Tigers and on a broader spectrum, all wildlife.
Whilst this is an optimistic turning point in the fight for Tiger conservation, WWF will not rest until they achieve their next ambitious target; to double wild Tiger numbers to at least 6,000 by 2022 which marks the next Chinese year of the Tiger.
In light of WWF’s valorous efforts, Look Mate and Rich wanted to volumise their creative platforms and contribute further to Tiger conservation, and in addition to raising awareness, the creative cadre are offering donations of Tiger Sock sales toward WWF’s Tiger Protection Campaign.
You too can contribute to Look Mate, Rich and WWF’s efforts to conserve the futures of our fury friends by purchasing a Tiger Sock online, becoming a member or furthermore join the Tiger Protector Campaign directly for £5 per month. Visit https://support.wwf.org.uk/adopt-a-tiger for further details.
Here’s to uniting together as a voice for the voiceless; our wildlife, and working toward preserving them and their futures so we can live harmoniously on one land together.
written by Alexandra Stuart
