Stitch by Stitch: Must-Have Circular Knit Socks
Tubular socks that are closed sans-human intervention, Santoni’s Wanmei machine does it all
When we think of socks the words: comfort, relaxation, softness, and fun tend to come to our mind. This basic footwear accessory can make or break our experience whilst we wear shoes throughout our workday, during outdoor activities, or when we are lounging at home. Common features that can disturb our comfort when using socks can be the closing seam at the front of the toe line or the inevitable-seeming looseness that happens over prolonged use; causing the sock to slide out of place. Fortunately, socks made with Santoni’s high-tech Wanmei machine don’t have those personality traits. For a better understanding of how this is possible, we’ve interviewed Andrea Carducci — a seasoned employee of the Lonati Group in China, with 15 years of experience in varied sectors of the company: Sourcing, Operations, and Product.
Santoni, leader in Seamless Wear, was acquired by the Lonati Group several decades in the past. Now with a hub located in China, Santoni Shanghai is home to the Materials Experience Center — ultimately encompassing peak creation through unlimited inspiration, experienced professionals, and top textile-making technology. Mr. Carducci describes Santoni as a ‘strong company that can support clients and collaborators with any requests and any difficult challenges in order to experiment in [the textile industry].’ A prime example of how Santoni pushes the envelope within the field is with their wonderful sock fabricating machine, the Wanmei.
As explained by Mr. Carducci, the Wanmei is a ‘combination of a normal socks machine with a sewing device on top. The socks are made the traditional way; going out from the machine as a fabric tube and later closed using the sewing device in the most advanced and perfect way. The sewing is done stitch by stitch, as we say. Each stitch is linked to another one until it completely seals the socks.’ Notice that there was no human involvement with the socks’ final finish — seam finalization was strictly done using programmed technology, a labor game changer. Because the Wanmei fabricates and completes socks in one go — it diminishes production time and takes manual finishing out of the equation. This shift focuses instead on ensuring quality post-production came out as engineered and gives more opportunity to play with yarn and pattern combinations. Mr. Carducci notes that ‘socks can have different functions and different applications. WM (Wanmei) is covering most of them but probably not all [yet]. I like to have very soft socks... I like the idea of using configurations of very fine gauges to design comfortable socks.’
At MEC, the innovative Santoni tech is utilized for exploration and prototype creation. With their Yarn and Machine Up development process, socks on the Wanmei are brainstormed before they’re physically present. The team selects the yarn(s), visual design, and final performance features such as moisture control, grip, and insulation. Once these aspects are decided and tested, Mr. Carducci states that this technology proves and allows ‘clients and collaborators to use [this] machine like we use a printer device today.’ With outlined steps, a path, and an end goal, your socks can be created in any direction.
With less human labor to shift focus from final material finish to performance testing and market expectation reach — efficiency and speed are heightened. The Wanmei machine is just one example of the many high-tech systems from Santoni that ease the production process. To conclude, Mr. Carducci leaves us with a final important note, ‘the machine’s performances are mandatory to compete in a really challenging market.’ Fundamentally highlighting that the leader in circular knitting has the ‘ability to provide a seamless experience to clients and collaborators looking for top-notch technology.’