Socks, 'aftersocks'

These socks were created by the charitable advocacy organisation Rural Women New Zealand as a fundraiser after the devastating Canterbury earthquake of 22 February 2011. The original concept came from Justine Ottey who was in the Port Hills of Christchurch at the time of the quake and was literally 'shaking in her socks'. She immediately approached Rural Women New Zealand with the idea of creating socks as a fundraiser.

The socks are knitted in the colours of Canterbury. Initially they were stripedred and black, but there was a demand for plainer socks which could be worn with suits, hence this black version with the red earthquake shock lines. They are known as 'corporate socks' or 'executive socks'.

There were three main principles behind the making of the socks - the majority of the materials needed to be New Zealand merino wool, they needed to be made by a New Zealand owned company, anda company local to Canterbury - hence they were made by theNew Zealand Sock Company in Ashburton.

About 18,000 pairs of socks have been made with all proceeds from their sale going to the Christchurch Mayoral Fund. They have been purchased by people from all over the world - some as far away as Norway and Alaska.