This unconventional footwear surely It’s set to be Hollywood’s hottest hit of the season.
Sock shoes, as the name suggests, are shoes that look like socks and are a controversial footwear that has suddenly and surprisingly become popular with comfort-chic-loving celebrities like Rihanna and Matty Healy.
The sight of bare socks lying on the sidewalk is jarring to say the least, yet somehow it’s the height of minimalist chic.
“It gives us a nice weirdness,” Amy Smilovic, founder and creative director of luxury women’s clothing brand Tibi, told The Washington Post.
The brand debuted the Borg sock shoe in its spring 2024 collection, which Smilovic described as a “natural transition” from the classic sock-and-sandal combo.
Similarly, Rihanna was spotted in May teaming $1,100 knitted socks and soles from Bottega Veneta with an athleisure ensemble from New York label Awake NY.
The 1975 frontman Matty Healy was also photographed wearing the sock-shoe hybrid while walking around Los Angeles earlier this month.
Last week, 98-year-old Dick Van Dyke showed up on the red carpet at Carol Burnett’s handprint ceremony at the TCL Chinese Theatre wearing, predictably, orthopedic shoes that resemble the controversial barefoot shoes beloved by running enthusiasts.
What sets Tibi’s Borg shoes apart from their competitors is their shape: by adding leather to the outside to mimic the look of a low-profile ballet flat, they give the impression of two parts, yet are functional footwear all in one.
“Anything that makes me look twice and sparks my curiosity always fascinates me,” Smilovic said.
Same goes for New Yorkers: Walking down 6th Avenue in my Borg shoes elicited some raised eyebrows and laughs, though I’m not sure if it was the shoes or my impromptu photo-op fussiness.
To be honest, I expected the Frankenshoes to irritate me, but they looked surprisingly chic when paired with butter yellow mini shorts, the ballet flat and crew sock combo mimicking the viral “balletcore” aesthetic beloved by Gen Z.
“The extreme femininity of a silk pleated skirt or the nakedness of a slip dress are offset by the strangeness of the structured sock shoe,” Smilovic said.
The shoes themselves, as expected, were very comfortable — they were socks, after all — but the jury is still out on whether they would remain comfortable for more than a few blocks in the June heat. As a busy New Yorker stuck waiting for air conditioning in 90-degree heat, the sock shoes were a bit too hot for me.
And Tibi isn’t the only brand taking a step further: Luxury brands have been releasing their own sock shoes over the past year, many of which mimic the look of insulated ankle socks with rubber soles affixed to the undercarriage.
Balenciaga has become known for its form-fitting sock shoes over the years, but the fashion house has introduced a new sock sneaker for its Fall 2024 collection, which will retail for $975.
Bottega Veneta has multiple knitted versions of the sock boot, many of which are currently sold out, as well as a heeled version, while retailers like Reset offer sock boots, as does Kanye West’s brand Yeezy, which recently launched the Yeezy Pod.
You might be wondering how to keep your sock shoes clean, but as any New Yorker knows, even the most scrupulous sneakerhead will get their white trainers dirty on the streets of Manhattan, but the elite sneakerheads get around the city in chauffeur-driven cars that avoid dirty subway cars and litter-strewn curbs.
As Vogue puts it, sock shoes can be “a subtle indication of someone’s status.”
But I don’t have the luxury of hopping into the back seat of a sleek SUV, and walking down a busy sidewalk in the sweltering midday heat makes my folksy social status clear.
But the attention the shoes evoked made me feel like a celebrity, or like the closest thing I had to Rihanna.
