Ballet flats: the styles we're shopping right now

WORDS Jasmine Pirovic PHOTOGRAPHY IMAXTree PUBLISHED Mon, 16 Oct 2023 - 3:57 pm

It feels like we've been droning on about our love of the ballet flat for years, at this point. The shoe began to reemerge on the runway during the spring summer 2022 season within collections from Molly Goddard and Chanel. Months later, the style came to signal the rise of what TikTok coined Balletcore, a trend that riffed on all the bits in a ballerina's gym bag, from legwarmers to soft pinks ribbons, wraparound cardigans to tiered midi skirts. But the real masterstroke came from Miuccia Prada, when she dropped the satin – and now viral – ballet flats during the Miu Miu autumn winter 2022 collection.

It was all over from this point. Somehow, the humble ballet slipper had unlocked a certain room in our brains quietly dedicated to the whimsies of girlhood. For the first time, people had begun to pass over Tabi boots for the Margiela ballet flats instead. Sandy Liang released a satin, ballet-inspired pair of mary janes, and later a sold out mesh option. Paloma Wool came out with their own style. The Row's Ava flat pranced their way across footpaths in New York City, as did the ballet flats from Khaite. Elsewhere, Simone Rocha released a sporty take on ballet flats with its beaded Criss Cross Tracker Ballerina, Alaïa came out with a jewelled leather pair, and Italian blanket-stitched styles were an easy buy in to the trend.

Every brand has their own version, and all the classic ballet styles from Ferragamo and Repetto had a second lease on life. So if you too are suffering from an acute case of ballet flat fever, here are our favourites to shop.