a new erroneous product

In college, Nick Brown had no clue all of the tinkering and experimenting with chemicals and open flames he’d been doing in his small North London flat would eventually lead to an industry-disrupting business founded on environmental morals. Back then, he was just a guy who loved walking.

He also happened to be a person who took matters into his own hands. As young as 10 years old, Brown would spend his school holidays hiking around Scotland, just a few hundred miles north of his home in Kent, England—a place that was, at times, even more grey and rainy than his home in the U.K. The only problem he faced while wandering the green hills, seaside cliffs, and rocky summits was that his socks kept getting wet. What he needed, he realized, was something he could apply to his hiking boots that would keep them reliably waterproof, but not soften the leather or diminish the quality of ankle support.