Most socks are one colour. A melange sock is several at once. The yarn is made by twisting two or more shades of fibre into a single thread before it is knitted, so the finished sock has a heathered, slightly mottled surface that shifts as the light moves across it. It is the look of a good tweed, or a sweatshirt that has been washed for ten years, and it is the look Escuyer was built on.

Our men's melange socks come in nineteen colours, all knitted from combed cotton twisted yarns at a family-owned factory near Braga, in the north of Portugal, on vintage machines, with a hand-linked toe. Here is what makes them different from a plain sock, the nineteen colours and how we wear them.

The nineteen colours

Every shade starts as two or three yarns twisted together, so even the quietest pair has depth. The neutrals go to work, the blues go everywhere, the warm tones and the greens are for days when the sock should be seen. All of them are €25, and all of them are one size.

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Men Melange Socks, Light Grey€25 Men Melange Socks, Brown€25 Men Melange Socks, Dark Khaki€25 Men Melange Socks, Blue€25 Men Melange Socks, Flame Blue€25 Men Melange Socks, Royal Blue€25 Men Melange Socks, Acid Blue€25 Men Melange Socks, Navy / Red€25 Men Melange Socks, Purple / Blue€25 Men Melange Socks, Mustard€25 Men Melange Socks, Orange€25 Men Melange Socks, Dark Orange€25 Men Melange Socks, Brick€25 Men Melange Socks, Yellow / Orange€25 Men Melange Socks, Green€25 Men Melange Socks, Lime€25 Men Melange Socks, Green / Grey€25 Men Melange Socks, Off Black / Green€25 Men Melange Socks, Off Black / Green Flash€25

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The neutrals: light grey, brown and dark khaki

Start here if you wear leather shoes most days. Light grey is the pair we would hand to anyone who thinks they do not wear colour: pale and silvery fibres twisted together, so it sits with charcoal, navy or black trousers and looks like a decision rather than a default. Brown is warm chestnut over a paler base, made for tan brogues and camel chinos. Dark khaki is deep olive with lighter flecks, and it is the pair we reach for most from October to March, under a brown boot.

The blues

Blue is where melange earns its keep, because a heathered blue goes with more than a flat one ever will. Blue is the true, everyday version, somewhere between navy and denim, and it works with everything a wardrobe contains. Flame blue is brighter, with a hot streak running through it, the pair for white trainers and light jeans. Royal blue is vivid and saturated, and acid blue is the sharpest of the four, for anyone who wants the sock noticed under a dark trouser.

Then the two that mix a blue with something else. Navy and red twists a deep navy with warm red fibres, so from a distance it reads as a rich plum and up close you see both. Purple and blue is the moodier version, violet and deep blue together, and it is very good with grey flannel.

The warm tones: mustard, orange, brick

Mustard is the best seller of the warm group and our favourite with brown. Warm ochre fibres over pale ones, so it has the depth of an old wool scarf rather than the flatness of a yellow sock; it belongs with raw denim and a brown shoe. Brick is warm red twisted with terracotta, the colour of a Brussels townhouse, and it is the one that makes a navy outfit look finished.

Dark orange is burnt and rusty, the autumn pair, perfect with olive and tobacco. Orange is brighter, amber over rust and terracotta, and yellow and orange is the sunniest sock we make, bright yellow with warm orange running through it, for anyone who wants their ankles to do the talking.

The greens

Green is rich and deep, twisted with darker green fibres, and it is quieter than it sounds: with navy, grey or brown it behaves like a neutral. Lime is the opposite, bright and fresh, and the pair we would wear with white trainers in May. Green and grey sits between the two, a fresh green softened with soft grey, and it is the one for people who like the idea of green but want it calm.

The last two are the sharpest in the range. Off black and green twists a deep off-black with green and pale fibres, so it reads as black with a pulse: a black sock for people who are bored of black socks. Off black with a green flash is the same base with a brighter streak of green through it, and it is very good with black boots and dark denim.

What melange actually is

A plain sock is knitted from a yarn dyed a single colour. A melange sock is knitted from a yarn that was spun from fibres of two or more colours twisted together, so the colour is in the thread itself, not on the surface. That is why the finish has depth, why it shifts in the light, and why it hides creases and wear better than a flat colour: there is no single shade for a mark to show against.

Ours are knitted from long-staple combed cotton twisted yarns, 80% cotton with 19% polyamide and 1% elastane, in a slub construction that gives the surface a subtle texture and a relaxed, easy fit that sits comfortably without gripping or digging in. The factory near Braga still runs vintage knitting machines, which work slower than modern ones and give the fabric a denser, softer hand. The heel and toe are reinforced, and the toe is linked by hand, so there is no ridge to feel inside a shoe. We design them in Brussels.

One thing worth knowing: twisted yarns on vintage machines leave the occasional short fibre end or small loop on the surface of the sock. It is part of the character of a melange knit, not a fault, and it changes nothing about how the sock wears or washes.

One size, by choice

Every pair of our men's melange socks comes in one size: EU 40 to 46, UK 6.5 to 11, US 7.5 to 12. We did it to keep things simple. There is nothing to guess when you order, for yourself or for someone else, and the slub knit has enough give to fit the range comfortably. The cuff holds at mid-calf all day without leaving a mark.

How we wear them

Match the trouser, quietly. Light grey with charcoal, brown with camel, dark khaki with olive. The sock blends into the leg and the heathered finish is the only thing that gives it away. This is the office answer.

Match the shoe, a little sharper. Brown melange with a tan brogue, off black with a black boot, blue with a navy trainer. The sock and the shoe read as one piece and the trouser can be anything.

Let the sock be the colour. Keep the rest plain and pick mustard, brick, lime or royal blue. Because melange is softer than a flat bright, even the loud ones look considered rather than novelty. If you want to go further, repeat the colour once somewhere else: a beanie, a wallet in the same family.

With loafers, no trouser break. A cropped or rolled trouser, a penny loafer and a melange sock in between is the easiest smart-casual move there is. Our guide to socks with loafers covers the details.

Also in melange: block and band

The same yarns, cut differently. Our melange block socks split the sock into two heathered panels, a graphic two-tone look softened by the finish. Melange band socks keep an ecru leg and add one band of colour at the top. Both are €25 and one size, like the plains.

Men Melange Block Socks, Green / Orange€25 Men Melange Block Socks, Navy / Red€25 Men Melange Block Socks, Navy / Purple€25 Men Melange Block Socks, Black / Ecru€25 Men Melange Block Socks, Ecru / Green€25 Men Melange Block Socks, Mustard / Brown€25 Men Melange Block Socks, Off Black / Bright Blue€25 Men Melange Block Socks, Light Grey / Bright Blue€25 Melange Band Socks, Ecru / Mustard€25 Melange Band Socks, Ecru / Khaki€25

Shop men's melange block socks and melange band socks. The whole family, for men and women, lives in the melange socks collection.

Caring for melange socks

Combed cotton is easy. Machine wash at 30°C, inside out, with similar colours. Skip the tumble dryer and the bleach; heat is what shortens the life of the elastane and dulls the colour. Dry them flat or over a rail and they will keep their shape and their shade for years. A melange sock, if anything, ages better than a plain one: the mix of fibres means a little fading simply adds to the depth.

The full men's melange range

Men Melange Socks, Light Grey€25 Men Melange Socks, Brown€25 Men Melange Socks, Dark Khaki€25 Men Melange Socks, Blue€25 Men Melange Socks, Flame Blue€25 Men Melange Socks, Royal Blue€25 Men Melange Socks, Acid Blue€25 Men Melange Socks, Navy / Red€25 Men Melange Socks, Purple / Blue€25 Men Melange Socks, Mustard€25 Men Melange Socks, Orange€25 Men Melange Socks, Dark Orange€25 Men Melange Socks, Brick€25 Men Melange Socks, Yellow / Orange€25 Men Melange Socks, Green€25 Men Melange Socks, Lime€25 Men Melange Socks, Green / Grey€25 Men Melange Socks, Off Black / Green€25 Men Melange Socks, Off Black / Green Flash€25 See the whole collection

Frequently asked questions

Escuyer. Considered design, made to last.