How Mickey Drexler Cares for His Cashmere Socks

"I am embarrassed to say, but..."

This post is part of Repair Month, a series dedicated to taking better care of stuff instead of buying more of it. Join the discussion thread here.

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A few weeks ago, I was on the phone with Mickey Drexler when our conversation somehow meandered to the topic of cashmere socks. He first “fell in love” with the luxurious accessory through one of his favorite shops, W. Bill, a Wales-born, London-based company that sold cashmere, tweeds, and other knitwear for 100-something years before it closed. Luckily for Mickey, though (and us), Alex Mill, the company his son founded and for which he serves as CEO, now sells an equally cozy version.

Mickey wearing cashmere socks in the Alex Mill office.

Because it’s Repair Month, I asked Mickey how he washes his cashmere socks. This is not an ad; I was genuinely curious because one of the main reasons I never wear such a thing—actually, the only reason—is that I’m way too lazy to hand-wash them each week. The busy man that he is, I thought Mickey might have a workaround. He also knows a thing or two about fabric, having served as CEO for the Gap and J.Crew as well.

“I am embarrassed to say but… I smell them,” he tells me of his socks. “They never smell, of course. And I do have a five-day limit.” But when it’s time, he washes them in cold water with Woolite.

“Cashmere socks tend to wear out the more you wash them,” he explains. He sent me a pair, and I’ve happily worn them for a few days. My limit is coming up, and I’m a little scared to take a whiff… But I no longer have cold feet. If Mickey can do it, so can I.

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Speaking of laundry, after reading this tell-all from the Laundress co-founder in NYMag, I begrudgingly signed up for her new “private members cleaning community,” The Fill. It costs $40 just to join the damn thing… But having written this feature on the Laundress in 2023, I had to try it for myself…

The rest of this JAM PACKED newsletter includes:

• A review of The Fill.

• My friend tried the “tiny parasitic wasps” that fight off moths and lived to tell the tale.

• And Naomi Mishkin of Naomi Nomi and button repair fame shares her tips for being a repair-minded shopper.