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The French civil protection and the police from Switzerland and the Netherlands are already part of Axfilia’s customer base, but the Barcelos company, founded by Maria José Machado, wants more and continues focusing on innovative products. One of the bets won is the one made on socks made for the military forces, which have already been integrated into a Portuguese mission.
“I remember a conversation in which a general told me: a soldier without a good head and good feet is not a soldier. And we often forget to protect our feet”, says the CEO of Axfilia, a company that specializes in professional, protective and safety clothing.
The military socks were the natural evolution from work socks, but they already represent an autonomous market, which has brought a lot of return. “We have already supplied some European military forces, and I can say the sock business has more than doubled from 2017 to 2018. This year, the trend continues, and we have almost doubled last year’s numbers,” says Maria José.
The Portuguese military mission in the Central African Republic – about 200 operatives, mainly paratroopers, acting in a UN peace action – is equipped with Axfilia socks.
The military sector represents a technical challenge in which Axfilia seeks to stand out. “An army faces extreme environments, either too hot or too cold, and we have to be able to create comfortable, breathable, anti-bacterial socks that can be worn for several days under these conditions,” concludes Maria José.