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A new chaos agent is dividing millennials and their Gen Z counterparts. Head to socials, where the latest face-off against people who once cared about Buzzfeed quizzes now centres around socks. Specifically, how they’re worn — rolled up, or barely visible. The proposition is that it’s possible to determine someone’s age, solely from the fact they’ve chosen to show an ankle.
In a video posted on TikTok in November 2023, fitness podcaster Phoebe Parsons embraced the theory. “This is exactly how you can tell the difference between a millennial and a Gen Z just by looking at their feet,” she said, before proudly holding her sockless ankle up to the camera and announcing: “I’m a millennial.” It’s hard to argue against socks being the latest generational divider, especially when countless brands are reporting a rise and fall in sales of various styles.
Sock brand Hanes confirmed to The Wall Street Journal that sales of socks that rise above the ankle are up 5.9 per cent since 2021. Meanwhile, sales of the brand’s low-cut socks are down 3.8 per cent. It’s a trend seen elsewhere, too. Crew socks are outselling ankle socks by two-to-one at Canadian womenswear brand Aritzia, while comfort-focused sock brand Bombas has witnessed a 9 per cent fall in non-visible sock sales in April compared to the previous year.
Head to the streets and you’ll find evidence of #sockgate everywhere. From the loafers and white sock combo favoured by teens on Gen Z style account @uniformdisplay, to the fact Kendall Jenner runs errands with white socks rolled up to her calves. According to one study that reports 41 per cent of Gen Z discover their clothing via short-form videos on socials, it’s no surprise the socks trend continues to fly. As more socks become more visible, sales of said socks increase.
But extrapolate beyond the ankle sheaths, and there’s a lot to learn about how Gen Z are approaching fashion differently to their older, non-sock-showing friends. Gen Z reporter Snake Denton vox pops for The Face and has modelled for Viviene Westwood. He puts it like this: “Millennials used to turn up their skinny jeans and show their ankles. That’s the look I associate pop socks with. But that shit is anathema for people in their teens and twenty-somethings.”
The twenty-something anathema Denton references goes far beyond feet. It’s trouser cuts, colour palettes, where you buy from. Out: millennial favourite cross-body bags. In: cropped tees. The wider your trousers, the better, and avoid denim — Gen Z adults are the least likely to buy jeans for their next pants purchase, with just 28 per cent of recipients responding in favour of denim, per Civic Science.
Like every generation before them, zoomers are putting distance between themselves and their fellow gens. For millennials, that meant eschewing Y2K styles, humongous jeans and grunge shoes in favour of drainpipe jeans, winkle-pickers and shirts. Only for Gen Z to start the cycle all over again. They dress like they’re in Blink-182 circa ’01 — think three-quarter length board shorts and long socks. In a recent interview, Billie Eilish’s look resembled Limp Bizkit’s Fred Durst.
Brands like Swedish powerhouse Our Legacy are leaning into this divide. They’re serving customers at higher price points but with a looser, rockier fitting of shirts, trousers and shoes. In the past, they’ve collaborated with Gen Z fave Stüssy, marking themselves as a zoomer entry point. Marc Jacobs’s Heaven imprint, launched in 2020, directly serves both Gen Z and older millennials looking to ‘come home’ to the nu metal-inspired fashion looks of their youth, with nods to ’90s style subcultures across their range of cropped tees, tall boots and flared trousers.
Both generations search for their fashion on social media in huge numbers. A report commissioned by Vogue Business earlier this year found that 77 per cent of Gen Zs and 79 per cent of millennials in the US look to social media for trends on a monthly basis, with 71 per cent of Gen Z saying they’re always open to discovering new brands. Influencers also remain one of the top inspo points for zoomers. Like, for example, Hailey Bieber; who, surprise surprise, helped to front run the pop socks trend.
Rich Evans, founder of creative agency Rich London, says the invisible sock came into fashion in the 2000s as “everyone had had enough of the ’80s and the mods, punks, skinheads and musicians, like Michael Jackson”, who all wore white socks. Putting space between the previous generation is par for the course when it comes to cutting-edge style. “This is exactly the point of fashion and why it evolves,” he says. “Kids want to look as far from their parents, teachers and any ‘adult’ as possible.” It helps that purchasing yourself a rolled-up tube sock is a cheap and easy addition, too. Just head down to Uniqlo.
“I think the reason [the video] hit so hard is because socks are the one item of clothing that everybody wears, no matter what generation you’re from or what gender you are,” Parsons says. “Immediately it became a really inclusive topic and debate that everyone has a lived experience with.”
Gone are the sleek, hairless looks loved by millennials in their prime. Gen Z is more rugged. Denton describes today’s fashion icons as people like Tyler the Creator, whose loafers, shorts and socks look is a style referred to by Denton as “skate fashion with a sartorial twist”.
“Athletic socks just make sense for lots of styles that have been in for the last few summers,” he confirms. “It’s 2024. You can’t wear shorts and loafers with pop socks.” Somewhere, some millennial may be gearing themselves up to argue, but he speaks the truth. Socks are in.
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