Our goal at ArchTek is to make sure no one ever has to choose between fashion and comfort for their feet. Why is this our mission? The answer can be found in the story of our company, which was founded by Dr. Bob Baravarian, a board certified podiatrist. His seedling idea grew into a mighty oak of arch support!
The ArchTek Origin Story
As the story goes, Dr. Bob was traveling in Europe in 2010 and at the end of each day, his feet were tired and sore. He was frustrated because he was wearing comfortable shoes that he felt should have been enough. After all, he was stretching throughout the day, even putting his feet up when he could – all the tips he gives his patients – but still the discomfort and pain persisted.
Sightseeing on vacation was one of the true endurance tests for Dr. Bob's feet. It pushed his feet to the limit, and at one point in the trip, Dr. Bob looked down at his feet and realized that the socks he was wearing were little more than a cloth barrier between his feet and shoes.
The Idea: How to Get Arch Support Without an Insole
That’s when the idea hit him: What if my socks were helping my feet? Not just my shoes, but my socks! Socks that worked as hard as a therapeutic shoe, hugged the foot and looked like a dress sock. A revolution in footwear was born.
Coming home with that inspirational idea running through his mind, Dr. Bob was excited to make this plan come to life. He began to research what it would take to create a therapeutic sock that could be worn for everyday life – at work, at home – and yes, on vacation! What he found was that he needed to create a ‘structure’ within the sock that would act like a built-in insole. Not everyone can afford insoles, let alone the trip to come and see a foot doctor, but his socks were going to do the trick instead, offering an affordable alternative.
Creating The World's First Orthotic Sock
He set to work with a team of designers and manufacturers to come up with a plan for the ultimate arch-supporting sock. In 2012, he founded the company ArchTek, and produced the first prototype, an athletic sock that featured a unique 5-layer weave across the arches, the first of its kind. That sample pair of athletic socks was sent in for patent in 2014, and gained patent approval in 2016. Champagne was popped! The ArchTek system was officially validated as an engineering feat (pun intended.) But the work wasn’t finished yet…
The two following years were dedicated to figuring out the fashion. Athletic socks were one thing – that was fine to get the patent approved for the arch technology and get the company underway. But now the focus needed to shift to the second part of the ‘promise’ Dr. Bob made to himself that day on vacation. Socks that are therapeutic – check! Socks that everyone can wear doing everyday activities? Not so much. Going back to the research table, Dr. Bob worked with a design team who knew all about what people want when it comes to dress socks. They want color, they want variety and they want style. Sounds easy, right? Well, it was a little bit more involved than that. Dozens of designs were scrapped as they tested their color palettes, stripes and polka dot designs with focus groups for months on end. But finally everyone agreed on the array that you see before you now – a beautiful variety of greys and taupes, blacks and browns – with accent colors that are extremely pleasing to the eye.
Success At Last
In August 2019, the first ArchTek dress sock was born – and it looked fabulous! So great in fact that 359 backers joined the revolution on line to support the company. It turns out that Dr. Bob was not alone in his quest for therapeutic dress socks. Everyone wants to look great and experience an energy boost in their feet at the same time. It’s not really a big surprise when you think about it, right? The promise is complete: now you don’t ever have to choose between comfort and style.
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