Anonymous Ism makes socks the way other Japanese makers make jeans: in Nara, the center of the country’s sock industry, with more attention to the knit than the category usually gets. This crew pair is unevenly dyed — the navy sits in clouds and streaks across the sock rather than as a flat color, closer to tie-dye than to a uniform dip — so no two pairs come out quite the same.

The knit is a cotton mix, chosen for softness and wear, with ribbed cuffs that hold at the calf without digging in. Crew length, so the color shows above a boot or a rolled hem. Made in Japan.