Luigi Mangione Went Sockless at His Pretrial Court Hearing
StyleThe defendant, who faces several state and federal charges connected to the killing of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson, wore brown penny loafers to the courthouse, his ankles bare save for a pair of silver handcuffs.By Eileen CartterFebruary 24, 2025Bloomberg/Getty ImagesSave this storySaveSave this storySaveLuigi Mangione made his first public appearance of the year on Friday afternoon, when police escorted the 26-year-old into a Manhattan courthouse for a pretrial hearing. Unsurprisingly, it wasn’t long before photos of Mangione, who faces a number of state and federal charges connected to the killing of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson in December, began making the rounds on social media. Rather than a prison-orange jumpsuit, the defendant wore a court-ready ensemble: a dark green cable-knit sweater layered over a white collared shirt—his torso bolstered by a bulletproof vest—with pale khaki trousers and brown penny loafers.In the courtroom, shrewd photographers zoomed in on his shoes—or, more specifically, his sockless ankles, which were bare save for a pair of silver handcuffs.At his pretrial hearing at New York State Supreme Court on Friday, Luigi Mangione's ankles were cuffed. Pool/Getty Images“I admit it: I didn't get the Luigi thirst until I saw the loafers,” tweeted Karina Longworth, film critic and host of the You Must Remember This podcast.“Before anyone comes at him for not wearing socks, please understand that rawdogging loafers is a traditional component of Italian formal wear,” read another post.The reaction reflects the general tenor of the outsize hoopla surrounding Mangione’s case. Indeed, the sockless loafers incident isn’t even the first footwear-related thread to unravel here: When Mangione was extradited from Pennsylvania to New York City in mid-December, one of the plainclothes NYPD officers who escorted him made headlines for wearing a pair of Off-White x Air Jordan 5s during the heavily photographed perp walk.Mangione’s pretrial appearance bookended a week of high-profile fashion choices in American courtrooms. The rapper A$AP Rocky wore a parade of sharp Saint Laurent suits and Ray-Ban sunglasses during his nearly month-long trial in Los Angeles. Just three days after the jury issued its not-guilty verdict, the latter brand named him as their first-ever creative director; the official press release contained a host of paparazzi photos of Rocky arriving to court in its frames.
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Luigi Mangione made his first public appearance of the year on Friday afternoon, when police escorted the 26-year-old into a Manhattan courthouse for a pretrial hearing. Unsurprisingly, it wasn’t long before photos of Mangione, who faces a number of state and federal charges connected to the killing of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson in December, began making the rounds on social media. Rather than a prison-orange jumpsuit, the defendant wore a court-ready ensemble: a dark green cable-knit sweater layered over a white collared shirt—his torso bolstered by a bulletproof vest—with pale khaki trousers and brown penny loafers.
In the courtroom, shrewd photographers zoomed in on his shoes—or, more specifically, his sockless ankles, which were bare save for a pair of silver handcuffs.
“I admit it: I didn't get the Luigi thirst until I saw the loafers,” tweeted Karina Longworth, film critic and host of the You Must Remember This podcast.
“Before anyone comes at him for not wearing socks, please understand that rawdogging loafers is a traditional component of Italian formal wear,” read another post.
The reaction reflects the general tenor of the outsize hoopla surrounding Mangione’s case. Indeed, the sockless loafers incident isn’t even the first footwear-related thread to unravel here: When Mangione was extradited from Pennsylvania to New York City in mid-December, one of the plainclothes NYPD officers who escorted him made headlines for wearing a pair of Off-White x Air Jordan 5s during the heavily photographed perp walk.
Mangione’s pretrial appearance bookended a week of high-profile fashion choices in American courtrooms. The rapper A$AP Rocky wore a parade of sharp Saint Laurent suits and Ray-Ban sunglasses during his nearly month-long trial in Los Angeles. Just three days after the jury issued its not-guilty verdict, the latter brand named him as their first-ever creative director; the official press release contained a host of paparazzi photos of Rocky arriving to court in its frames.