What to Make of These $690 Flip-Flops

A debate about the Row’s latest rubber sandals.

Like all flip-flops, they are pool attire, good for walking a stretch of scorching sand. And yet the Row’s take on the toe-baring staple, priced at $690, is in a class of its own — best suited, let’s imagine, for a stroll down the starboard side of a yacht.

The Row, the luxury label by Mary-Kate Olsen and Ashley Olsen, is known for simple designs at luxury prices. Often lauded for their personal taste, the Olsens are highly influential in matters of style. Photographs of them wearing flip-flops often circulate on social media accounts devoted to their outfits.

While lacking any distinctive design hallmarks beyond a small logo on their footbed, the $690 flip-flops have attracted a wait list in most sizes on the Row’s e-commerce website. Reporters and editors from the Styles section sat down to debate the polarizing shoes.

Stella Bugbee I recently encountered these in the shoe department at the Nordstrom on 57th Street. I picked one up out of curiosity, only to turn it over and see the $690 price tag. I gasped.

Jacob Gallagher Here’s where I have to immediately come clean that I’m warped by years of covering fashion, because that price, while high, doesn’t really shock me.