“From a young age my mom always encouraged me to give back. She'd give me my allowance alongside an envelope to donate whatever amount I chose, reminding me there were people out there who needed help,” said Prashant Mehta, CEO and co-founder of Conscious Step, when asked about the inspiration behind the company sparking global change on a mass level.

Graduating from Bryant University with a degree in Finance and International Affairs, Mehta always knew he’d pursue finance; however, he felt like he needed to find a new career path in a new place. So, he moved to Australia in search of a “life change.” Staying with his friend and eventual co-founder, Hassan Ahmad, he came up with the idea of ‘Conscious Step’ sitting on the living room couch. Shortly after, Mehta and Ahmad met their third team member Adam Long, Conscious Step’s Director of Strategy and Business Development. They then started a Crowdfunding campaign, launched in Australia, expanded to New York City, and set up their new headquarters in Manhattan.

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Conscious Step is a sock company that hopes to raise awareness for major global problems in a “fun and educating manner,” while empowering people to create positive change. Partnering with prominent charities and nonprofits, each sock is customized to promote a specific United Nations Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) in an effort to raise awareness for serious issues, such as: gender equality, hunger, and clean water. Global Citizen is proud to be their newest partner, striving to end extreme poverty by 2030.   

In addition to supporting worthy causes, they go the extra mile to ensure the manufacturing process – involving a sock manufacturer, spinning mill, and fair trade cotton cooperative – is consistent with their mission. One of the earliest challenges the company faced was how to create “a completely ethical and completely sustainable supply chain.” To achieve this, they grow cotton and manufacture the socks in New Delhi, India and surrounding states. Why India? First, India grows around 80% of the worlds’ organic cotton. Second, it provides Conscious Step the opportunity to support small and marginal cotton farmers.

All of the factory workers are adults, 70% of whom are females. The factory itself is continuously inspected to ensure that the working conditions meet both fair trade compliance and fair human treatment standards.

All of the socks produced are 100% organic, fair trade, and use a non-toxic dye that is certified organic. They also have amazing anti-odorant properties and use less water for production. On a larger scale, the cotton cooperatives don’t use pesticides or synthetic fertilizers and are working towards taking positive initiatives towards improving the lives of factory workers and fighting against climate change. A major challenge of this ethical and sustainable supply chain is that it is incredibly time consuming. This means that socks take longer to produce and have to be made on a much larger scale than their competitors.

“We take a lot of pride in really raising awareness for ethical manufacturing as it’s just as much of a serious issue as the causes we support, especially nowadays with fast fashion being a serious problem in the world,” said Mehta.  

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Socks may seem like a strange choice for creating holistic global change, but there’s a good reason Mehta and his partners chose this specific article of clothing.

“Socks have no brand loyalty,” explains Mehta. Everyone needs socks. No one has a favorite sock company.

Secondly, Mehta goes on to say that socks “…allow you to raise the perfect amount of recognition of things you care about and incorporate them into your day to day life without having to change any habits.” Think about it. Can you wear the same outfit to work and your favorite band’s concert? Probably not. The same socks? Absolutely! Socks can be worn anytime, anywhere – meaning they can positively impact a wider audience.

Although made on a large scale — Conscious Step socks can also be personalized. You can read about the specific cause each sock supports on the back of the tag and use the unique logo as a conversation starter about some of the world’s biggest problems. For friends and family who are passionate about global issues, these socks are the perfect holiday gift.

Thank you Conscious Step for using your platform to give organizations like Global Citizen the ability to unify people around major global issues and work together towards real solutions!

You can find the new Global Citizen X Conscious Step socks here.

You can shop the new 3-pack collection (ft. Global Citizen, Water.org, Room to Read) here.