Thorlo - Profile
Introduction by Gail Bruce
On April 30th of this year, The American Indian College Fund celebrated our thirtieth anniversary and the fact that AICF has awarded over 100,000 scholarships to Native American students. What a celebration - made even better when Meredith Vaughan one of our board members stopped by my table to introduce me to James Jesserer from Thorlo Socks. She was working with James to launch a First Nations Sock for the Thorlo Brand. I was blown away. The socks were fabulous and so was the Thorlo company for using Native American designers and giving a portion of the sales back into Indian Country through AICF scholarships and endowment. Needless to say I wanted to feature the socks and the company on HipSilver as soon as they were launched. So you, our users, are the first to have access. They are amazingly comfortable, soft and properly cushioned for fast walking, climbing or just hanging around the house. They make a fun unique gift and come with the knowledge that another Native Student will have possibilities in their future.
About This Designer
“As for-profit business, we believe that we are at our best when we are giving our team the opportunity to partner with non-profits and other business that share of philosophy of creating positive impact in the world. We’ve worked with the American Indian College Fund since 2014 and are thrilled to have helped that amazing organization generate awareness and drive donations to support scholarships for Native students. Recently, we learned that Thorlo Socks had created a line of beautiful socks, in conjunction with Native artists, called the “First Nation” line and that they were generously donating 5% of the proceeds from the sales of this sock line to our friends at The College Fund. Within days of learning this news, we engaged with the team at Thorlos to help them launch and promote the First Nation socks. We are thrilled to support a non-profit we love, a for-profit business with a generous heart and to be part of the team introducing the beauty of our Native cultures to more people.” says Meredith Vaughn.
THORLO is a 100% American Made company based out of North Carolina. Their primary focus is translating the sock business to the relationship business. The official THORLO vision and mission became all about Sustainable Relationships, and thus, Thorlo brand experience was born.
Jim Throneburg, owner and CEO of THORLO, Inc., always remembers his father’s belief: “your life is worthwhile to the extent that you strive to become the acknowledged ‘best’ at something.” Jim and his father succeeded in doing just that: as contract knitters in the 1950s, ‘60s and ‘70s, long before the invention of the Thorlo brand, they earned a reputation for making the best high-quality socks for other well-known apparel brands. Thorlo Brand came to be in the 1980’s. Jim dreamed of two new guiding possibilities within this business:
1) Sustainability of the company beyond his own lifetime.
2)Being the best in the world at foot protection.
Jim realized people were getting more than the best athletic sock; they were getting something beyond socks – they were getting foot protection, comfort , foot health benefits and fostering community in support of these values.
The First Nation Collection is a celebration of Native Americans, the indigenous people of North America–their symbols, their spirit, their strength. The collection features high quality Thorlo sock wear, but more importantly,the socks are a canvas on which Native American art is displayed and celebrated. The two Native American tribes which influence this collection are the Cherokee and the Sioux. In addition to wearing a unique Native American design, everyone who purchases a pair supports Native American education—Thorlo donates 5% of profits before expenses to the American Indian College Fund.
HipSilver founder and founding board member of the American Indian College Fund, Gail Bruce, is pleased to showcase the “Thorlo Socks: First Nation” line on HipSilver.
Meredith Vaughan, Chief Executive Officer of Vladimir Jones
