POA Socks

When I first moved to Sweden, I was told a few things: Swedes are very quiet, they say what they have to say, nothing more, nothing less, they sit as far away as possible from each other on public transport, and visiting people involves some prior notice, you don’t just show up.

It was also interesting to see that people take off their shoes when entering someone’s house. It doesn’t matter if you’re dressed up for a party or job interview, just remember to wear proper socks. Back where I’m from in Burundi, visiting friends would simply be another opportunity to show off your shoes, but not in Sweden.

Fascinated by this Swedish practice I came up with an idea to create cool socks. Socks that would showcase the vibrant and diverse patterns and colors of Africa...and Poa was born.

Poa is a Swahili adjective for “cool” or “fine”, which is exactly what we aspire to. Based in Sweden and founded in the Summer of 2019, we are an online store of cool, fashionable, and funky African socks.

Our socks are mostly inspired by Kitenge, the well-known and commonly used African wax print fabric. Kitenge is popular and associated with Africa because of its distinct colors and patterns. Kitenge is used for different things in different regions of Africa. In some regions women wear it wrapped around their waist when doing housework, while in other regions Kitenge is commonly given to young women as a wedding gift.

And now, Kitenge can be worn by anyone, through Poa’s socks.