Why the classic ballet flat looks totally different right now

The humble ballet flat has undergone a small yet impactful transformation.

A high-vamp iteration—meaning the upper covers more of the top of the foot—has quietly taken over the feet of stylish women, from Paris to New York and beyond. The trend, now sprawling, can be traced back to a few designs. First was the “glove flat,” a slipper-like supple leather silhouette that started to gain popularity back in 2011, thanks to the Argentinian brand Martiniano, which was soon followed by cool-girl labels like Maryam Nassir Zadeh. By 2018, Everlane had debuted its iteration with the Day Glove Flat, which signaled that the foot-hugging shape had hit the masses. Gaya Guiragossian, Vestiaire Collective’s style and artistic director, first clocked the high-vamp flat on Céline’s Spring/Summer 2015 runway. Guiragossian sees the shoes, referred to as “soft ballerinas,” as a precursor to today’s balletcore trend.

A decade later, these high-vamp flats have converged with other trending high-cut styles like opera shoes, minimalist loafers, and Mary Janes.

From a practicality standpoint, not only does a high-vamp style tend to stay on your feet more securely than a flappy pair of low-cut flats, reducing the risk of blisters or mishaps, but the extra coverage also extends its wearability into cooler months (as long as it’s not too wet outside). Lily Atherton Hanbury was inspired to cofound her editor-beloved line Le Monde Béryl, in part, by high-vamp silhouette of the traditional Venetian gondolier slipper. She notes that the updated construction of these styles makes them versatile for everyday wear and tear. “They retain a sense of preciousness,” she says, “yet are intended to be lived in.”

I first started to spot a modest uptick in the trend popping up in certain pockets of Brooklyn around 2023, with well-dressed moms finishing off their Rachel Comey ensembles with slipper-like styles from Bode or Lemaire. Unlike the viral Tory Burch Reva flats of the early aughts (which have mounted their own comeback), these shoes eschew a round shape and deep toe cleavage for a high-cut throat.

 

In part, despite an IYKYK interest in these silhouettes, the slow adoption can be attributed to the fact that for much of the last decade, the fashion world was looking elsewhere. The focus has been more on gorpcore and logo-laden collaborations, with oversize shoes like Balenciaga’s Triple-S sneakers dominating the cultural conversation.

Post Covid, as quiet luxury emerged in full force, alongside a reembrace of all things ’90s minimalism (which, thanks toLove Story, is still going strong), simpler styles began to supplant chunky footwear. In 2024, there was the collective obsession with Alaïa’s high-cut Mary Janes, embellished with crystal or rendered in mesh. Meanwhile, minimalist luxury powerhouses Phoebe Philo and the Row were riffing on their existing silhouettes, adding slides, loafers, flats, and low heels into a range of highly covetable foot-hugging shapes, like Philo’s oft-duped Club Slipper or Gathered Flat.

Despite the long evolution toward this latest iteration of the modern ballet flat, all signs point to it only continuing to gain steam. “It’s being adopted across a range of price points and materials, suggesting this trend might stay for a while,” says Guiragossian. Armani, Simone Rocha, and Tory Burch all sent models down the fall 2026 runways in their takes on the high-vamp trend, and Kendall Jenner was spotted at Milan Fashion Week in a Phoebe Philo pair too. Says Atherton Hanbury, “What is wonderful about this silhouette is that it is both recognizable and open to interpretation.”

Shop the trend

 

 

 

 

 

This article originally appeared in harpersbazaar.com

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