Former Smartwool Founders Peter and Patty Duke said their new merino wool sock company, point6, is up and running. The company is selling it’s own branded merino wool socks exclusively via its highly animated Web site.

On Tuesday, the site featured outdoor, active, lifestyle, cycling, running, skiing and snowboarding socks priced at about 25-30% below cmoparable SmartWool socks. For instance, point.6’s trekking heavy duty crew sock was priced at $13.27 compared to $17.95 for SmartWool.

The company’s name is a reference to the ability of merino wool to maintain an optimal body temperature of 98.6 degrees Fahrenheit. The couple’s five-year, no-compete agreement with SmartWool expired in January.

The Dukes say Point6.com uses a compact spinning process to remove more air from between the merino fibers, creating a softer, finer and more durable yarn. While other manufacturers may use small percentages of compact spun yarns in their products, point6.com uses them exclusively. Once spun, point6 merino is knit with finer gauge needles to produce more stitches per inch - and literally more merino per inch - increasing longevity and durability.

In addition to using naturally renewable merino wool fibers, point6.com keeps packaging, shipping and merchandising to a minimum through our exclusive use of the internet as a retail channel. The are putting the finishing touches on our 1% for the Planet membership to incorporate an easy and effective way to increase what it gives back as produces more product.

The company will will officially launch a grassroots marketing campaign at the Telluride Bluegrass festival on June 19, 2008, during which employees will give out samples from the back of diesel vans with “pimped-out sound systems.”

Tags: point6.com, smartwool

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