It felt like the day would never come, but after two years (at least!) of ballet flats being the summer shoe, the coquette balletcore stalwart has been knocked off its podium by—what else?—ballet sneakers (or pilates pump depending on your chosen mode of exercise).
In the ever-evolving world of hype footwear, two things are for certain: practicality and style must coexist. Gone are the days of pin-thin stilettos and vertiginous heels, today’s fashion girls — Dua Lipa, Bella Hadid, Amelia Gray, to name a few — are switching out the power shoes of yore for limited-edition sneaker drops and niche footwear. Elsewhere in fashion land ‘ugly trainers' continue to hold firm. Basically, there’s a lot of scrabbling to find the next cult shoe to usurp the ubiquitous Margiela Tabi.
The latest contender plays to at least two of last year’s most enduring trends: balletcore and ugly trainers. Beloved for their delicate, minimalist design, ballet flats quickly became synonymous with poise and grace, but after the over-saturation of coquette, in which you couldn't turn a London street corner without bumping into an oversized bow or satin ballet flat, the trend pendulum has shifted towards a slightly more robust and, dare I say it, ergonomic silhouette.
Designers are reimagining ballet flats and melding them with the practical elements of trainers. VIVAIA’s pair, which Bella Hadid has been wearing on repeat ties into another trend still: the barefoot movement. No longer confined to new age types and tech bros (why does anything remotely Gorpcore-coded become the axis in which these two divergent demographics coalesce?), the barefoot movement has been steadily gaining traction. The unlikely rise of the Vibram FiveFingers (an ugly shoe if ever I saw one) is perhaps the best example of this. By contrast, VIVAIA’s Cristina and Yana pairs are a much more accessible entry point into the barefoot trend.
They’re crafted from recycled materials with a triple-layer sole, two interchangeable lacing styles, and — most pleasing for overpackers like me — a foldable design for travel. They’re also machine-washable (apparently the first of its kind). No wonder the Bella Hadid-endorsed Cristina style has sold out within a week and been restocked three times in one month.
Bella Hadid isn’t the only Depop-loving ballet sneaker-wearing celebrity either. Dua Lipa has been dallying about in the Pilates studio in a pair of Puma Speedcat ballet flats, which, true to this trend might be the only pair to surpass the straight-up Speedcat in ubiquity. Amelia Gray, another VIVAIA fan, has been seen in all manner of sneaker-fied ballet flats.
The demand for ballet trainers is not just a passing whim — it's backed by solid numbers. StockX, the market leader for streetwear and sneakers, reported a 119% year-on-year increase in searches for “ballerina” shoes and , proving there’s growing interest in this sartorial crossbreed. Scroll down below for our edit of the best ballet sneakers (just down deck them in bows).
