Sock shoes are the latest odd footwear trend loved by celebs: It gives good strange

This unorthodox footwear is a shoe-in to be the hottest in Hollywood this season.Sock shoes — which are, as the name implies, shoes that look like socks — are the controversial footwear suddenly and bewilderingly preferred by comfort-chic-loving celebrities like Rihanna and Matty Healy.The sight of bare socks hitting the pavement is jarring, to say the least, but has somehow become the pinnacle of minimalist chic.“It gives good strange,” Amy Smilovic, the founder and creative director of the luxe womenswear brand Tibi, told The Post.The brand first introduced its Borg sock shoe in the spring 2024 collection, which Smilovic described as a “natural migration” from the age-old socks and sandals combination.Similarly, Rihanna was spotted in May wearing Bottega Veneta’s $1,100 iteration of the knit socks-with-soles, paired with a matching athleisure ensemble from the New York label Awake NY.And The 1975 frontman Matty Healy was also photographed sporting a pair of the sock-shoe hybrids while out and about in Los Angeles earlier this month.Just last week, Dick Van Dyke, 98, graced the red carpet at Carol Burnett’s handprint ceremony at the TCL Chinese Theatre in — you guessed it — orthopedic footwear akin to the highly divisive barefoot shoes that are beloved by running enthusiasts.Where Tibi’s Borg shoe differs from its competitors’ is its shape — the addition of a leather exterior to mimic the appearance of a low-profile ballet flat gives the illusion of two pieces while being functional footwear all built into one.“Anything that makes me look twice and pique my curiosity is always going to win me over,” Smilovic said.And New Yorkers are no different.

Wearing the Borg shoes down Sixth Avenue raised some eyebrows and even got a few chuckles — though I’m unsure if it was the footwear or the brouhaha of my impromptu photoshoot.Admittedly, I was prepared to bristle at the sight of the Frankenshoes, but they looked shockingly chic with ...