Nester Hosiery, a leading U.S. manufacturer of performance merino wool socks, today announced that it has joined the bluesign system. The bluesign® system is designed to facilitate sustainable textile production by reducing its impact on people and the environment.
“To produce bluesign certified socks in our facility has been a long-term goal,” said Kelly Nester. Nester Hosiery Chief Executive Officer. “With the designation we can provide our current and future partners with the mechanisms to make socks in the most sustainable manner available.”
The bluesign system is based on an applied practice called Input Stream Management. bluesign helps its partners to properly manage chemicals and to replace hazardous chemicals with safer alternatives. The system unites all aspects of the supply chain to jointly reduce the impact on people and the environment. With its holistic approach based on Input Stream Management, the bluesign system ensures responsible use of resources and guarantees the highest level of consumer safety.
“We are glad to be partnering with Nester Hosiery as our first Socks Manufacturer System Partner in the US. Nester Hosiery has shown its leadership in sustainable production and has proven its ability to implement the most stringent criteria for environment protection, occupational health and safety as well as for consumer safety. The partnership is a step further for the bluesign system to show that responsible production is possible for a complete range of products. I have known Nester Hosiery for many years personally and I couldn’t be more pleased to have them as part of our bluesign® community”, said Jill Dumain, Chief Executive Officer at bluesign technologies.
Nester Hosiery has long been a leader in environmental and sustainable practices. It was the first sock manufacturer to submit its facility self-assessment to the Sustainable Apparel Coalition’s Higg Index starting in 2012. The tool has allowed them to both assess and to obtain insights on areas for improvement. For example, these insights have helped them reduce their solid waste by 16% over the past five years.
Nester Hosiery currently produces socks for over two dozen leading brands and retailers, and holds the sock license for the Woolrich brand and Rocky Brands’ divisions of Rocky Outdoor, Georgia Boot and Durango.
In 2013 Nester Hosiery launched Farm to Feet which is committed to the single, simple goal of creating the world’s best socks by exclusively using an all-American recipe: US materials, US manufacturing, and US workers. The brand quickly gained market share and has become a leader in the outdoor market due to its mastery of the full craft of sock-making; unsurpassed comfort, perfect fit, guaranteed durability, innovative design, and a significant range of construction types.
Nester Hosiery – “the world’s most technologically advanced outdoor sock producer” – designs and manufactures socks in Mount Airy, North Carolina, near the foothills of the Blue Ridge Mountains, where it is an important employer and economic driver for the area. Nester Hosiery is a key manufacturer in the outdoor industry, operating state-of-the-art knitting, finishing, and packaging equipment to make premium outdoor performance socks for leading outdoor brands and retailers as well as under its own Farm to Feet brand. Customers value the company’s superior manufacturing capabilities as well as its commitment to social and environmental responsibility. Learn more at www.nesterhosiery.com and www.farmtofeet.com.
The bluesign® system is the solution for a sustainable textile production. It eliminates harmful substances right from the beginning of the manufacturing process and sets and controls standards for an environmentally friendly and safe production. This not only ensures that the final textile product meets very stringent consumer safety requirements worldwide but also provides confidence to the consumer to acquire a sustainable product. bluesign technologies ag was founded in 2000. Since then, the bluesign® system has been adopted by worldwide leading textile and accessory manufacturers. Various significant key players of the chemical and machine industry rely on the bluesign® system. And well-known brands of the outdoor, sportswear and fashion industry rely on the extensive knowledge of bluesign technologies.