Picture this: the sun is slipping behind the city’s famous mid-century bungalows, casting a heavenly glow across Heidi Montag’s face which is plastered on billboards and telephone poles, all blonde coiffed hair and beaming Hollywood smile. Everywhere you look, girls are wearing low-rise jeans that sit snugly over heeled flip-flop sandals, framing French pedicures.

No, this isn’t a scene fromThe Hills circa 2003—this is 2025, and I’m sitting in Santo, a buzzy neighbourhood sushi bar in LA’s cool Silver Lake district. My boyfriend had the good sense to book ahead of our trip, and thank goodness he did, because it feels like all of LA has turned out on this balmy evening to try and get a table.

In line, nursing biodynamic wines, there’s the usual sea of baseball caps and ‘throwing fits’ style ensembles—I spot more than one pair of Acne’s intentionally distressed jeans—but among the predictable low-key Cali-cool looks, one item stands out: the heeled flip-flop.

Once considered a relic of the Y2K era, this summer the sandal has made a triumphant return, thanks to labels like Jimmy Choo and TOTEME. Coperni also offers a wedged platform pair—which feels pleasingly Lizzie McGuire-like—but tonight, all the California cool girls are wearing whisper-thin heels with an almost threadbare thonged vamp.