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Have you ever tried to find a chic, functional ski sock? Jenni Lee, founder of luxury socks and homeware brand Comme Si (known for its luxe socks and well-tailored basics) tried, five years ago when she started going on annual ski trips with her husband. “I thought, ‘Wait, why aren’t there any beautifully designed socks that are also really functional?’” she says. (This writer has also tried, and failed, miserably.)
So came to be the first Comme Si performance sock — a ski sock — launched under the Comme Si main line as a holiday gift item two seasons ago. “It’s [for] the person who’s maybe buying a Moncler ski jacket, but then they’re having to wear a really weird, ugly ski sock,” Lee says.
Now, she’s formalising the category with Comme Si Sport. The new athletic brand follows the same ethos upon which Lee founded Comme Si in 2019: good-looking, functional socks. Lee wanted a well-made, perfectly hued sock to wear with her loafers; she couldn’t find one. So, she left her career in PR and created Comme Si. The label has gained a strong following of brand loyalists, consistently doubling business year-on-year. (Lee declined to share revenues.) Most recently, eagle-eyed brand fans spotted Comme Si’s signature tags on Dakota Johnson in Materialists.
Now, Lee is hoping to replicate this success with a new athletic spin. Comme Si Sport is launching with six core styles, for six sports that Lee views as most popular at the moment: running, Pilates, tennis, hiking, cycling, and, of course, skiing. “[We’re] applying that same lens that we have with our core socks, which is: really amazing materials, really nice design, and making sure they’re super functional,” Lee says. “And with the sports socks, they have to be technical.”
Initial feedback is strong, from both existing customers and those who haven’t shopped Comme Si before but are enthusiasts of a given sport. “Our core customer of Comme Si is a man or a woman who really looks for excellence and amazing design across their entire lives — their home, their wardrobe — they care about detail all the way down to their socks,” Lee says. “And they are active.” One can imagine the same woman (or man) propelling brands like Literary Sport — which has been dubbed athleisure’s answer to The Row — slipping on a pair of Comme Si socks before heading out for a jog, followed by lunch in New York’s Tribeca.
The $35 cotton socks have earned an ‘if you know, you know’ status. A customer recently likened Comme Si to ‘the new flex in your 30s’, Lee tells me. “It’s almost a flex when people check what kind of watch you’re wearing — they’re checking if your sock has a tag on it,” she laughs. Some of the sports socks (running, tennis) are the same price as Comme Si’s everyday offering, the rest are $40.
The production process also borrowed from Comme Si’s own. In the research and development (R&D) phase, Lee travelled to Northern Italy to visit the brand’s sock producers, knowing that lots of cycling gear is also made in the country. Turns out, her factory partner was already making cycling socks. The material know-how was there; Lee just had to combine it with her own fresh design.
Throughout the R&D process, Comme Si consulted local sports enthusiasts, from cycling groups to run clubs. “We asked them what their favourite socks are, or if there’s something that they felt was missing, what was that? What are they looking for? That kind of thing,” Lee recalls. They also gave their amateur consultants prototypes to trial before launch.
Soft launch
This community ethos fed into Comme Si Sport’s launch strategy. “Sport is a social activity, so the launch really needed to reflect that,” Lee says. She sought out a hospitality partner venue that was able to offer all of the sports the line was launching with, and enlisted a host of ‘friends of the brand’ (also friends of Lee’s), including photographer Dianna Bartlett and creative consultant Juliana Salazar. In June, the eventual group travelled to Stanglwirt, a luxury biohotel in the Austrian Alps, known for its athletic and wellness offerings. “It felt like a natural way to launch the line, to show our products in action, us enjoying these recreational activities,” Lee says.
It was a case of many birds, one (very chic, five star) stone. Attendees were involved in shooting the launch campaign on-site, all while playing tennis in their Comme Si Sport socks and Stanglwirt-branded tees. They, alongside Comme Si social accounts, shared content live from the trip, generating buzz. And while on the hotel’s grounds, Lee opened Comme Si Sport’s first retail pop-up in the form of a cerulean blue box, right by the Stanglwirt tennis courts. It will be open through the end of summer.
All of this pre-dated any traditional press or brand announcement. A soft launch of sorts, Comme Si Sport’s launch strategy is a study in new-age brand-building — and launching. It taps into many of 2025’s business buzz words — community, social-first, authenticity — but instead of seeking to incorporate these factors into the strategy post-launch, Lee is baking these into the brand’s foundation.
But why launch the first physical offering for the brand in a tiny corner of the Austrian Alps, versus, say, Downtown New York’s West Broadway or Hollywood’s Sycamore District, a short trip from a Hollywood Hills hike?
Lee is meeting her clients where they’re at — and where they can be fully immersed, she says. Some of them are on holiday at a pricey Alpine resort. “Especially for this launch, because we’re covering so many sports; instead of focusing on one, I decided to get in front of people who are vacationing and doing all of those things,” recalls Lee. “Yes, it’s in the Alps, it takes a while to get there, but once they’re there, they’re in the mindset of participating in these sports. So it felt like the right way to introduce the brand to people who are ready for it.” Plus, the Alpine backdrop makes for much better content.
Besides, those buying Comme Si — and now Comme Si Sport — are probably not going to occupy any of fashion’s branded beach clubs this season. They’re more likely at a lower-key, luxe hotel tucked in the hills. And if they’re not there IRL, chances are, they’re following it on Instagram. “I think it’s still resonating with people who aren’t there,” Lee says of those who have seen the content on socials, whether via Stanglwirt’s account or via one of the high-profile attendees.
Is there scope to broaden Comme Si Sport’s offering down the line? Like Comme Si evolved into homeware (boxer shorts and Italian-made shirts) during the pandemic, the post-Covid shift to leisurewear has opened doors for the eventual evolution of Comme Si Sport, says Lee. That said, she’s not rushing into anything. As with the main line, the brand is restrained in its approach to launches, and Lee will only drop a new product when she can offer a different angle. As more pared-back athleisure brands come onto the scene (Literary Sport, Horse Sport), this will be harder to achieve.
But Lee is confident in a Comme Si spin, ruminating on a more athletic take on the brand’s boxer shorts. “To make ski gear is obviously so specific and so technical, but I do think there is this world of casual, every day, something you throw on for a run, but also play tennis in,” she says. “There might be something in that world for us.”
What Lee is focusing on ahead of new apparel categories is additional sports. She’s already begun fielding requests for those not in the first drop. The most requested activity? “Golf is hot,” she says with a smile. Golf aficionados, watch this space.
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