For a certain kind of visitor to Japan, the FamilyMart sock has become a covetable souvenir. Now, there’s going to be more of them than your dresser can hold. The convenience store chain’s green-and-blue striped Line Socks, part of its Convenience Wear apparel label since it launched in 2021, have spent the past few years quietly building a following among international tourists.
To mark 45 years since its 1981 corporate rebranding, FamilyMart is taking that idea further with a collection of 47 pairs of socks, each representing one of Japan’s prefectures. It’s the company’s first attempt at what it calls a “regional item” meant “to express our gratitude to everyone across the country … who has supported FamilyMart over the years, and to convey our ’thank you’ to all 47 prefectures,” according to Takehiko Sugai, head of Convenience Wear at FamilyMart.
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