For some time now, a brand called has gone viral in the USA and the UK. It was launched just last September by , a former real estate agent from New York with a background in textile design, who built and made it viral thanks to a single product: a cashmere sock-shoe that, according to both The Times and the WSJ, is . It all started when Fiszel realized she had purchased some rather exquisite socks from , which were too delicate to be worn with shoes. So, after learning the craft from a shoemaker, she created the first DIY pair of a product that, several months later, would not only end up on trendsetters like Aerin Lauder and Leandra Medine Cohen but also on , specifically that of the brand TWP. What began as a cashmere sock with a rubber sole glued underneath has now become a brand we will undoubtedly hear more about, fitting into a broader trend seen at fashion weeks across Europe: . This type of shoe has a cyclical life. While the archetype will always be , a shoe that was revolutionary in its own way, today's models are abundant: the BBC wrote an entire article about the , and there are also more affordable models with a similar design, such as the and the . However, while the models we just listed are designed for home or camping, those by Brave Pudding are (in WSJ, Fiszel specifically talks about pricing designed to be accessible while still conveying the exclusivity of the product) and perhaps mark the first wave of a trend that has been seen sporadically during fashion month, where socks take center stage as a form of footwear.

Besides Balenciaga's, the most famous luxury sock shoes were the ones that opened 's FW23 show two years ago—made not from wool but from an intricately woven network of colorful leather threads, handcrafted and initially available only on request. (as the brand named them) now seem to have quickly entered the brand’s carry-over collection in a new melange wool version. There was also the sock shoe launched by Kanye West under the name in December 2023, which later found itself in the midst of controversy over undelivered orders and sudden price drops. But there's no need to look too far back to find a surprising number of socks worn alone or transformed into true shoes, subtly hidden among the looks of the 2025 collections. Two remarkable examples from the SS25 season: at , where models wore one of these illusionistic shoes paired with a much lighter, tone-on-tone sock; and at , which, in collaboration with Puma on the "Levitate" silhouette, created a sock shoe seen at the brand's Berlin show. Perhaps as a nod to the famous dance scene in Risky Business, Eli Russell Linnetz included a shirt-underwear-socks look in , while the high-heeled version reappeared in Balenciaga’s recent collections, particularly in Pre-Fall 2025. In the latest FW25 season, there was a mix: in New York, used Brave Pudding’s shoes, while other versions of a sock-boot hybrid were seen at . Perhaps more inventive, presented a high-heeled shoe where the upper was essentially a knotted sock. Meanwhile, at , shoes were simply absent, and models walked barefoot. Given that numerous top runway shows of the season included various interpretations of knee-highs, tights, and leg warmers, one wonders why so much emphasis has been placed on this category.

Analyzing the macro-phenomenon, all the examples we have mentioned stem from the long wave of , post-pandemic, and the original version of Bottega Veneta’s Domenica boot. There was indeed something surprising about the illusory nature of a thick sock that was actually a boot—and a leather one at that—a product that brought luxury to and whose intricacy fully conveyed a sense of preciousness and value. Additionally, it had a surreal yet discreet touch that caught the eye: it looked exactly like a thick sock. However, this is where cases diverge: while the new versions of the sock shoe represent various (more or less conscious) reinterpretations of the Domenica boot, driven by the current and future dominance of in fashion throughout the summer, the choices of The Row or Vetements, as well as brands like Miu Miu, Chanel, Valentino, and even Our Legacy, seem instead to be an attempt to . The Row already sells a pair of cashmere tights for €1,400, and we can assume that Vetements’ socks, as an entry-level product, are quite popular. The same is undoubtedly true for Miu Miu, where silk and cashmere socks prominently feature the brand’s logo and pair perfectly with equally branded shoes. Meanwhile, Chanel and Valentino have presented slightly old-fashioned sock models that ideally complement the shoes of their respective brands, while Our Legacy’s latest collection was abundant in decorative leg warmers worn over mules and boots.

Beyond styling, socks seem to have once again captured the attention of critics and commentators, both as an entry-level product and as a styling element that is beginning to take precedence over the shoes themselves. But what about sock shoes? Needless to say, like all products that go viral and become tied to