Our Story
With a backdrop of over twenty years of experience in the hosiery & branded fashion market and a specialist expertise in innovative fibers and textiles, our founder Anja Kahn created a team of leading experts from the UK, US and Italy, and commenced on a mission to realize a product which would, well …. knock your socks off!
The challenge to overcome was the technology and manufacturing capability. Compression socks are not a new invention, cave drawings from 5000 BC show soldiers with bandages on lower legs, however, use in hospitals as a preventative measure became more universally widespread from the 1950s & 1960s.
Unfortunately, not much has changed since, in either the basic product technology or fiber compositions, generally resulting in products which are difficult to put on, very synthetic and definitely lacking in style. One would only wear them because of having to, and not because of wanting to as a day to day wellness regime for good leg health. The sports world, recognizing the huge benefits of compression in both performance & recovery, forced trends towards more eye popping colors & abstract logos to add design appeal, however the fibers are pretty much still synthetic, with the occasional dash of cotton as a nod to natural fiber inclusion.
Two years of development, consulting with medical professionals & medical hosiery manufacturers, testing innovative knitting techniques, technological fibers & natural fibers, culminated in the global first, subject of 3 patent applications, Milk Fiber Graduated Compression Hosiery range, which we are so proud to stand behind.
The unique Lanati Milk Yarn using natural milk fibers (absolutely, you read it right, milk fibers extruded from the milk protein casein), mixed with natural viscose and Lycra, make this product range very soft, extremely easy to put on, very comfortable to wear all day long, at an effective medical grade compression, manufactured in on-trend colors, AND the natural properties of milk fiber are many: moisturizing, antimicrobial, PH in harmony with the skin, plus a softness & drape-ability not found in most compression products.
The branding has been revamped a few times; the ideal balance between medical & fashion was elusive, even for hardened brand developers, resulting in a few short-lived brand launches along the way. Eventually, we believe we did get there; ATOM was born.
The atom, a building block, word root from the Greek 'indivisible' or 'undivided'. Add in some atomic philosophy, and you have the beginning of an interesting conversation, and that is what our aim has been, to not only have a product which can be used to treat medical conditions but to open a conversation and encourage the public in preventative health measures whilst wearing an everyday item - a sock, what could be simpler? A colorful, and oh so comfortable to wear product range, makes it easy to follow a preventative health protocol.
The quest to revolutionize the graduated compression sock, triggered a passion in the team to not stop there; our compression range grows as we continue to bring you performance fabrics and yarns, designed to look good and manufactured using innovation and ground-breaking techniques, to perform, be comfortable, and last.
The passion extends to our un-compromising strive for ethical manufacture, caring for the people in the supply chain, limiting the environmental impacts, and placing you, our customer, at the center of our organization.
We want to hear from you; drop us a line about what compression apparel means in your life.
From your team at
Atom Compression Wear
