Sock appeal

Ever admired the hosiery of a Lufthansa stewardess? It’s almost certainly by Falke. Founded in 1895 by Franz Falke-Rohen, the business is still in the hands of the same family and is still headquartered in Schmallenberg, a hillside town two-hours’ drive from Köln. Falke doesn’t just do tights; it also makes some of the best men’s socks around, plus a hi-tech sportswear and a ready-to-wear line. In 2006 the company had sales exceeding €186m.

Markus Unger, manager of quality control, says that when most people visit the factory, they “expect to find one big machine where workers throw in some yarn and dye, and out come socks minutes later”. Instead, it can take up to six weeks to produce a pair of top-quality socks.

In Schmallenberg 250 knitting machines (many are Bentley-made, dating back 50 years) work at full capacity from Monday to Saturday, turning out 20,000 articles a day. But quality is still key to the Falke operation. Its sea island socks are made from slow-growing cotton harvested just once a year in the Bahamas.

While the knitting of the finer articles remains in Schmallenberg, Falke has plants in eastern Germany, Hungary, Portugal and South Africa, where much of the non-skilled labour is carried out, including toe-closing, dyeing, stretching and packaging – but everything comes back to Schmallenberg for inspection.