A Talk with Zhong Zicheng on How His sNug Sock Design Solved Real-World Challenges

Hi, I'm Zhong Zicheng. I grew up in a textile factory, so my background is in production and manufacturing. When I started working in the end-consumer market, my ideas stemmed from my own needs and observations of the market. For 18 years, sNug has adhered to the core principle of "providing solutions that truly address consumer problems" in our brand's research and development.

Through consumer feedback, we continuously invest in product development and innovation to ensure that our customers wear the safest, healthiest, most effective, and durable socks.

I wanted to solve people's social difficulties caused by foot odour.

From the very beginning, our company has held the highest goal of "Glorifying God and Benefiting People," with the core of our brand development centred around "providing safe and effective solutions to consumer problems." Our business philosophy is based on "high quality at affordable prices," guided by the principle of "earth-friendly sustainable management," and committed to "giving back to society and empowering the youth."

With this belief, we embarked on our business journey, establishing the sNug brand. sNug was the first in Taiwan to introduce size-specific functional socks, transforming often-overlooked socks into comfortable, durable essentials. A good pair of socks protects your feet, extends the life of your shoes, and provides all-day comfort—a true expression of self-care.

In Taiwan, we support numerous sporting events, from Basketball, Badminton, Cycling, Marathon and the Chinese Professional Baseball League (CPBL). sNug invests in R&D to create the perfect socks for athletes, and we've even collaborated with CPBL teams on co-branded athletic socks. This year (2024), we participated in WBSC Premier 12 and won the glory of the world championship. sNug's reputation for quality and technology demonstrates how our socks can be the ultimate support for athletes.

The best design is one that solves consumer problems, improves their lives, and brings them a sense of happiness.

I like minimalist and textured designs that can be paired seamlessly with any outfit without being obtrusive, while also showcasing personal taste with any style. Most importantly, it's a design that allows for long-term wear while remaining incredibly comfortable.

I also enjoy designing products that meet people's comfort wear needs, as this always helps me achieve more breakthroughs in design and technology, while also solving consumers' problems and bringing them a better life.

A super awesome socks make you never want to take them off once you put them on, and always choose for them first. This is the most genuine feedback from consumers.

We interact with many athletes, including baseball players, basketball players, yoga instructors, dancers, marathon runners, and triathletes. Through these interactions, we discovered that athletes value stable performance and are concerned about the risk of sports injuries during training and competitions.

To address this issue, we first studied the biomechanics of foot movement. Our goal was to develop a solution that helps athletes maintain optimal physical stability while protecting their bodies and reducing the risk of injury. By combining insights from athlete feedback with cutting-edge research, we designed socks that provide enhanced support, stability, and cushioning to meet the unique needs of various sports. This innovation not only improves performance but also instils confidence in athletes.

It came from my own needs—I wanted everyone to no longer feel embarrassed by foot odour, to enjoy close relationships, and to be able to remove their shoes at any time while maintaining a positive image, without foot odour being a barrier to interpersonal relationships.

Yes, Taiwanese people generally prefer plain black socks, as it helps avoid the problem of mismatched pairs, and black is also more resistant to dirt. That's why we mainly focus on dark colours that are more practical. At the same time, Taiwan is a country that integrates diverse ethnic groups and cultures.

This cultural diversity allows us to draw a lot of design inspiration and elements from different cultures, which helps us showcase uniqueness in our designs. This also enables us to create styles that appeal to people from other countries.

We are thrilled to have won the London Design Awards, which represents international recognition of our design philosophy and provides a tremendous boost for our global expansion.

The London Design Awards emphasise works that showcase outstanding design and creativity from around the world, breaking through form, functionality, and sustainability, which aligns with sNug's commitment to product design for socks.

In particular, sNug's sports socks designed for the Chinese Professional Baseball League (CPBL) are also the most well-known star product. They are durable and comfortable, meet the needs of athletes during sports, and provide optimal protection for players during training.

To date, this remains the most representative product advantage of sNug, especially during the WBSC Premier 12 when Taiwan achieved championship success. We are even more confident that sNug's creations are products that combine aesthetic design with functional structure, offering athletes the perfect product.

The biggest challenge was the design constraints we imposed on ourselves. We believe that the internal seams of socks should be minimised to enhance comfort and safety, particularly reducing the risk of entanglement for infants and people with diabetes. Therefore, we aimed to avoid overly complex patterns while still meeting modern fashion expectations, which was not easy to design.

It is a great honour for us to receive this award, and it also affirms sNug's commitment to sustainable development. sNug actively promotes ESG sustainability initiatives, aligning with the SDGs15 "Life on Land" development goal by prioritising the use of natural and green materials, such as recycled PET bottle eco-friendly fibres, natural cotton, and lyocell, which are free of harmful substances. We also collaborate with factories that meet OEKO-TEX production standards to minimise waste and pollution during the manufacturing process.

sNug is dedicated to producing high-quality, washable, and durable socks, with the concept of "improving quality to reduce waste" to achieve the SDGs12 goal of "responsible consumption and production." Through this product design philosophy, sNug hopes to engage consumers in caring about issues related to the health of the planet and marine ecosystems.

Product design, packaging design, and listening to customer feedback.

Taiwan is a country that integrates diverse ethnic groups and cultures, and this cultural uniqueness allows us to showcase distinctiveness in the design industry. In the past, Taiwan was a major producer of socks, and we developed refined sock-making techniques and expertise. sNug's designers have incorporated this valuable technical knowledge along with the cultural diversity of Taiwan's multi-ethnic society into their designs, demonstrating rich cultural diversity.

While designing socks, sNug also places great emphasis on environmental protection and sustainable development. From material selection to every detail in the manufacturing process, we strive to achieve green sustainability. This philosophy ensures that our designs are not only beautiful and practical but also carry a responsibility and mission toward society and the environment.

This integration of ethnic culture, professional expertise, and innovative capability in design allows Taiwan to showcase a unique design style in the global design industry.

Under environmental policies worldwide, people will lean towards better quality and more durable clothing to reduce textile waste. This means that designs will likely move away from chasing short-lived trends and towards simpler designs that remain wearable for longer periods. We need to focus not only on aesthetics but also on functionality in our designs.

You must have unwavering belief in your ideas to create products with soul. Don’t aim to be number one; instead, focus on your original intention and design something that conveys a meaningful message, and helps people practice sustainable and environmentally friendly concepts in their daily attire.

Participate in competitions. The process can help you broaden your horizons and gain more inspiration.

Every pair of our socks goes through 13 quality control procedures to ensure they meet the highest standards.

The insecurity, bullying, and social isolation caused by foot odour inspired me. If changing a pair of socks can solve these issues, how wonderful would that be? It’s a low-cost way to achieve high-value interpersonal relationships.

Stay true to your beliefs and dare to use high-cost materials that others haven’t tried to make socks.

I believe that a design that can solve consumers' problems, improve consumers' lives, and bring users a sense of happiness is the best design. Through years of R&D and the design of socks, consumers can feel comfortable and wear them. I feel extremely honoured and grateful to win the 2024 London Design Award. This honour not only represents our investment and enthusiasm for product design but also demonstrates our persistence in quality.

sNug socks are more than just a product. This means that we hope to bring every user a fresh, comfortable, practical and aesthetic experience through the best design. At the same time, in the promotion of ESG sustainability, I believe that companies have the responsibility to be promoters and practitioners. This award gives me more motivation to continue investing in innovative design products so that design can truly integrate into and improve everyone's life.