At the same time, the husband-and-wife team noticed that Gen Z and younger Millennials were getting pickier about sock styles. “They were getting ove
At the same time, the husband-and-wife team noticed that Gen Z and younger Millennials were getting pickier about sock styles. “They were getting over the no-show or the ankle sock, and leaning into the self-expression type pairs of socks.” So, they launched doublesoul out of Rosenbaum’s mom’s basement in Scarsdale during the pandemic.
Doublesoul has scaled quickly, selling more than 1.5 million pairs to date and projecting roughly $15 million in sales this year. Davidson and Rosenbaum appeared on Shark Tank last year, where they asked for $500,000 in return for a 4% equity stake. The show’s fashion shark, Kendra Scott, ultimately secured a deal with doublesoul for a 10% equity stake at $500,000.
Now the company is launching Babysoul, a modern line for newborns and infants on April 22, an idea that came together in the haze of early parenthood.
After Davidson, his partner Elsie Hewitt, Strumeyer, and Rosenbaum all became modern parents, they started sharing lists of approved products that were protected for babies. Davidson says he’s always been anxious, but having a child has taken him to another level. “And then we were like, why isn’t there a baby sock on this list?” Strumeyer says. Davidson describes the same moment from his side: “We were like, we should just make our own socks, because we have yet to find baby socks that we like. It was kind of a no-brainer.”
Davidson doesn’t lend his name to a lot of products. Apple is successful, he says, because the tech giant focuses on “like four things.” Propose an item, and there’s a good chance Davidson has been offered some kind of brand deal for it: “Weed, dildos, you name it.” (The second Davidson says the words “weed” and “dildos,” his publicist pops back onto the Zoom to say, “We have time for one last question.”) But with doublesoul, he’s attached himself to people with stern business savvy.
Rosenbaum still works in private equity at Vista Equity Partners; Strumeyer had a job at BlackRock before they started doublesoul. The two of them met freshman year in their dormitory at the University of Pennsylvania.
Davidson thinks this sock brand could be the business venture that finally breaks his dependence on Hollywood. “I don’t want to be doing this forever. It’s exhausting to be in the public eye all the time, mentally draining, and it occupies a lot of time and travel,” he says.
So he’s been studying an exit. “I’ve done research, and most people who make their bank have a drink or a fucking soccer team”: George Clooney and Casamigos; Ryan Reynolds and Wrexham A.F.C. “They always have a thing, so I was trying to find my thing.” In a market where attention is fleeting, he landed on something people have no choice but to notice. “Socks are a necessity.” Tabloid infamy isn’t.
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