By Jack Stanley
March 31, 2026
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Photo: Getty Images
Artwork by Vogue Business
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It’s official, “hot guys are wearing ballet flats”. From Bad Bunny in a Dries Van Noten pair at the Happy Gilmore 2 premiere, to Harry Styles wearing pastel green Dior flats at the Grammys, or a black Chanel pair at the Brits, some of menswear’s most prominent style icons are sporting the style of late. But will the average menswear consumer buy in?The ballet flat trend has been bubbling away for a few years, with cult labels like Comme des Garçons, Maison Margiela, Lemaire, and Bode releasing versions as early as 2021, beloved by fashion-forward arty types who’d pair them with shredded jeans or baggy shorts. But with an influx of celebrity sightings in recent months, the men’s ballet flat has crossed over into more mainstream culture.
“Harry Styles has certainly played a role in raising the profile of this once-fringe trend for men,” says Karis Munday, retail analyst at EDITED. “Less than two weeks after he appeared at the Brits in Chanel ballet flats, Celine’s own ballet-style lace-up sold out, despite having been in stock since November.” Munday also points to the impact on high street retailers, adding that ultra-thin soles currently feature in 8% of early-season men’s shoe arrivals at Zara.
Of course, the aforementioned luxury labels cater to a subset of consumers influenced by the runway and celebrity style, even if it challenges traditionally gendered colors or silhouettes. But a cursory glance at the Instagram comments under any coverage of men’s ballet flats will reveal — amid rising conservatism and a continued surge in hyper-masculinity — plenty of consumers going to great lengths to avoid traditionally feminine fashion. (One comment, under a @FootwearNews post of Styles in his green Dior shoes, reads: “masculinity is dead.”)
Benedict Browne, style director at Mr Porter. There are now various sneakers that build on the ultra-thin design of a ballet flat, repackaging its construction for performance reasons, for example:
By combining elements of traditional masculine dressing with the traditionally feminine ballet flat, brands are participating in the trend without alienating shoppers.
Maybe the ballet flat is more of a direction of travel than a final destination. It might be relatively rare for men to fully embrace the silhouette as it is, but many of its characteristics — the low, almost-flat sole and thin leather upper — are being combined with more traditional forms. “While literal interpretations of the ballet flat remain minimal in the market,” says Munday, “their influence is beginning to take shape in the form of thin soles and soft leather uppers on shoes.” For Mr Porter, this is coming through in “hybrid styles that sit somewhere between a loafer and a slipper, with that same pared-back feel”, says Browne. At the start of the year, Jacob Elordi sat on the Jimmy Kimmel sofa to promote Wuthering Heights, wearing a pair of off-white Bottega Veneta loafers that were not quite ballet flats, but ascribed to this hybrid style (though many users compared them to ballet flats online).
Ballet flats might not be worn by men en-masse, but their influence is being felt across the menswear market. Both brands and consumers are embracing softer shoes, happy to play with the rules that have previously governed men’s footwear. “The exact shoe might stay niche,” says Browne. “But the ideas behind it will carry through.”
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Personal Note: My friend Brian from Canada is great fan of ballet flats especially Tory Burch. Below is a photo of his gift to himself and his note:
Hi Rhonda. Hope things are going well in your part of the world. Thank you for the retirement wishes. I’ve been retired for 2 1/2 years already. Wow time fly's.
As I mentioned for a retirement gift to myself I wanted to treat myself to a very feminine pair of ballet flats. A pair that would scream girlie. I was looking at the Tory Burch Runway flats and I even tried them on in the Tory Burch boutique. Sadly I wasn’t a fan of the $400 price tag. Instead I ordered a pair of White Rose Tieks. They definitely scream girlie on me but a girlfriend talked me out of keep them cuz they weren’t really that practical so I returned them. About the same time a Tory Burch representative reached out to me and offered me a $200 off coupon. I shifted my focus back to the Torys. I had tried the TB Runway flats on in the Black and the Silver at the Scottsdale TB boutique and liked both colors. The Tory representative felt because they are a pair to mark a special occasion I should get the silver pair. Two days after placing the order they arrived. They are much different from all my other Torys and they are one of the most comfortable pairs of Torys I own. The style is not really the best for me but they definitely are girlie!
So here’s my retirement gift to myself.
See: Brian's Review and Brian - Tory Burch Flats from 2017
