Last evening, paparazzi captured Rihanna departing Manhattan’s Carlyle Hotel clad in an Awake NY shell suit and what appeared to be a pair of ordinary Uniqlo socks. Depending on one’s tolerance for unconventional footwear, this may be viewed as a striking example of fashion designers pushing boundaries. However, the reality is, this trend has been brewing for quite some time. Fashion’s fixation on avant-garde footwear, exemplified by Irina Shayk’s Miu Miu thong boots, Kylie Jenner’s Sportmax pedi-spreaders, and Sophie Turner’s toe-exposing Louis Vuitton stilettos, has made the sock-first street style seem entirely reasonable.

Apart from Jacob Elordi and Shawn Mendes braving the Beverly Hills sidewalks barefoot, few individuals can pull off treating a cityscape as if it were a tropical beach resort.

This nonchalant act signals one’s social standing. To step out in nothing but socks—or even in $1,000 Bottega Veneta boots cleverly designed to resemble wool socks—suggests a level of wealth and fame that transcends basic societal norms. (Of course, Rihanna is always within arm’s reach of a chauffeur-driven town car and a retinue of umbrella-wielding assistants.)

The so-called “ugly shoe” trend has become so ubiquitous that it no longer shocks. Many designs, like Naomi Campbell’s Loewe balloon heels and Victoria Beckham’s Croots, are exaggerated, aestheticized versions of ugliness. Our eyes have become accustomed to these unconventional styles.

Thus, it takes someone like Rihanna to challenge conventions and push the boundaries to new and provocative extremes. While leaving the house in New Balance’s “controversial” loafers or Simone Rocha’s pearl-adorned Crocs may not raise eyebrows, dirty street socks is a trend that most people will, at least for now, find difficult to embrace.