Sock business inspired by wildlife trauma

Seventeen-year-old Kyla Murrie’s obsession with socks is well known among friends and family.

She often gives unusual, weird or funny socks as gifts and recently her friends reciprocated. “I have more than 20 pairs now, after my friends decided to take revenge,” she says.

No surprise then, that she chose sock-making for her Young Enterprise Scheme (YES) business as part of her Whangaparaoa College Year 12 studies.

It was important to Kyla that her business raises money for charity, and is environmentally sustainable. She also wants to help wildlife.

She designed the koala image for her socks on her iPad and then searched high and low for a company that could make them out of 100 percent bamboo fabric.

A very small business in China was the only one she could find for the job.

“I chose koalas because I am half Australian and grew up there,” she says. “Not only are they super cute, but they are very vulnerable, particularly after the recent bushfires.”

Fifteen percent of profits will go to the Wildlife Warriors charity, originally called the Steve Irwin Conservation Foundation, which aims to involve and educate others globally in the protection of injured, threatened or endangered wildlife.

So far, Kyla has sold around 60 pairs, with her first shipment due to arrive soon from China.

“I would love to continue with YES, especially as I want to study business when I leave school,” Kyla says. “I’m thinking about a whale shark for my next sock design.”

Orders and info: wild.mystorbie.com/ or @wild.socksnz on Instagram.