This is not to say that people should avoid wearing fishnet flats altogether. There are, after all, good reasons for their mainstreaming: we all want to feel grounded, comfortable, at home outdoors, a little freaky. (A mesh heel somehow feels more “wrong” than a mesh slipper.) “The moment I saw them, I was in love!” this magazine’s fashion editor Eniola Dare said of her own Alaïa flats in the summer of 2023. “They are the perfect summer–and holiday-ready–shoes. As well as being super comfy, they can literally be worn with anything.”