--- title: Justin Trudeau's Socks Have Gone Viral on the Internet description: William Shatner spotted the Canadian leader in Chewbacca socks, leading to questions of his loyalties to Star Wars or Star Trek. canonical: https://time.com/4950653/justin-trudeau-chewbacca-socks/ author: Raisa Bruner article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2017-09-20T21:12:07.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-08-19T07:47:55.670Z og:title: Justin Trudeau's Socks Are Throwing the Internet for a Loop og:description: Chewbacca makes an appearance on the Canadian leader's latest footwear choice og:url: https://time.com/4950653/justin-trudeau-chewbacca-socks/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt3369e437cfdd5183/6988dea77cdbac17f4d5a1b6/justin-trudeau-chewbacca.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 3000 og:image:height: 1688 og:image:alt: Goalkeepers: The Global Goals 2017 og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Justin Trudeau's Socks Are Throwing the Internet for a Loop twitter:description: Chewbacca makes an appearance on the Canadian leader's latest footwear choice twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt3369e437cfdd5183/6988dea77cdbac17f4d5a1b6/justin-trudeau-chewbacca.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Justin Trudeau's Zany 'Star Wars' Sock Choice Is Throwing the Internet for a Loop > Sponsored content. 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A mash up of Justin Trudeau's best moments._  by [Raisa Bruner](https://time.com/author/raisa-bruner/)  ## Raisa Bruner Sep 20, 2017 9:12 PM UTC  Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation co-founder Melinda Gates and Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau speak at Goalkeepers 2017, at Jazz at Lincoln Center on September 20, 2017 in New York City. Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation co-founder Melinda Gates and Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau speak at Goalkeepers 2017, at Jazz at Lincoln Center on September 20, 2017 in New York City.Jamie McCarthy—Getty Images for Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation  by [Raisa Bruner](https://time.com/author/raisa-bruner/)  ## Raisa Bruner Sep 20, 2017 9:12 PM UTC As we know by now, Canadian Prime Minister [Justin Trudeau](http://time.com/4849577/justin-trudeau-emmanuel-macron-g20/) has a dapper [sense of fashion](http://time.com/4768739/justin-trudeau-star-wars-socks/). He also has his sartorial quirks, mainly in the form of socks. And on Wednesday in New York City, Trudeau may have learned just how buzzy a thing like sock choice can be for a person at his level of visibility on the world stage. During a panel appearance at the Bloomberg Global Business Forum and at a Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation event at Lincoln Center, Trudeau chatted with fellow leaders like Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte and Melinda Gates to discuss issues ranging from international economic growth to poverty and disease initiatives. But the audiences may have been distracted by what was going on at his feet. While at first glance Trudeau’s socks for the day may _seem_ to be a motley brown pattern, zooming in closer reveals they are designed with the visage of none other than hirsute Star Wars character [Chewbacca.](http://time.com/4535600/star-wars-the-force-awakens-chewbacca-deleted-scene/) To no one was this point more obvious than actor [William Shatner](http://time.com/3990931/william-shatner-tribute-leonard-nimoy/), the original Captain Kirk of [_Star Trek_](http://time.com/4853722/comic-con-2017-movies-television/item//) fame and a [(former?) pal](https://twitter.com/justintrudeau/status/484807549812613120) of Trudeau’s. “@Justin Trudeau I thought we were friends?” Shatner tweeted, including a photo of Trudeau’s apparel to illustrate his concern. “Chewbacca socks?” (He included a crying-face emoji for good measure.) Shatner’s tears come since Star Wars — from which Chewbacca hails — is a rival franchise universe to _Star Trek_, Shatner’s own extragalactic silver screen home. That said, Trudeau has a [history of wearing](http://time.com/4768739/justin-trudeau-star-wars-socks/) Star Wars socks, so this shouldn’t come as _too_ much of a shock to Shatner. > [](https://twitter.com/WilliamShatner/status/910546825559470080) But some internet onlookers think there’s room for Trudeau to be a fan of both worlds. Compromise — and the ability to balance multiple points of view at once — is what makes a good leader great. > [](https://twitter.com/Gabe616/status/910551458747240454) > [](https://twitter.com/KrisRWaddell/status/910596332385169409) > [](https://twitter.com/garyhe/status/910514331665788930) ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4950653/justin-trudeau-chewbacca-socks/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4950653/justin-trudeau-chewbacca-socks/"},"headline":"Justin Trudeau's Zany 'Star Wars' Sock Choice Is Throwing the Internet for a Loop","datePublished":"2017-09-20T21:12:07.000Z","dateModified":"2026-08-19T07:47:55.670Z","description":"William Shatner spotted the Canadian leader in Chewbacca socks, leading to questions of his loyalties to Star Wars or Star Trek.","url":"https://time.com/4950653/justin-trudeau-chewbacca-socks/","keywords":["Newsfeed","viral","Star Wars","fashion","Justin Trudeau"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt3369e437cfdd5183/6988dea77cdbac17f4d5a1b6/justin-trudeau-chewbacca.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Raisa Bruner","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/raisa-bruner/"}],"articleSection":"","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt3369e437cfdd5183/6988dea77cdbac17f4d5a1b6/justin-trudeau-chewbacca.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Goalkeepers: The Global Goals 2017","caption":"Goalkeepers: The Global Goals 2017","creditText":"Jamie McCarthy—Getty Images for Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/tag/time-section-newsfeed/","name":"Newsfeed"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4950653/justin-trudeau-chewbacca-socks/","name":"Justin Trudeau's Zany 'Star Wars' Sock Choice Is Throwing the Internet for a Loop"}}]},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"VideoObject","name":"Justin Trudeau's Greatest Hits","description":"A mash up of Justin Trudeau's best moments.","thumbnailUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/v2/media/uXLetYBN/poster.jpg?width=720","uploadDate":"2016-03-10T21:06:07.000Z","contentUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/uXLetYBN.m3u8","embedUrl":"https://time.com/4950653/justin-trudeau-chewbacca-socks/","duration":"PT1M53S","potentialAction":{"@type":"SeekToAction","target":"https://time.com/4950653/justin-trudeau-chewbacca-socks/?jw_start={seek_to_second_number}","startOffset-input":"required name=seek_to_second_number"}}] ```