Margaret Qualley has once again drawn attention to one of Chanel’s most talked-about designs, the sole-less sandals from the new Cruise collection. The actress wore them at the London premiere of The Dog Stars and managed to make a proposal that on the runway seemed almost impossible to translate into real life work, at least on a red carpet.
The design takes footwear to its minimal expression, with ankle straps, a single piece at the heel, and much of the foot in direct contact with the ground. A risky choice that revives the debate that arose when Chanel first unveiled them. We spoke exclusively to MUJERHOY with stylist Andrea Rivera about this footwear. So, are they just a provocation or can they say something about where footwear is evolving?
Are we witnessing a new footwear trend?
For the stylist, these sandals make sense if understood within a broader movement that’s gaining traction in fashion. “I think Chanel’s invisible sandals are a bold proposal that must be understood within a broader movement or concept: minimalist footwear and barefoot, since they are increasingly present in fashion and lifestyle, shoes that are lighter, more natural and less structured,” the stylist explains to MUJERHOY.
That, however, does not mean that Chanel’s design can truly be considered barefoot. Rivera introduces an important nuance here. “Chanel takes this idea to the extreme because I don’t think they are comfortable or barefoot.”
Margaret Qualley wearing Chanel’s sole-less sandals.
The interesting thing, therefore, is not to think that in a few seasons we will all be walking almost barefoot, but to understand these sandals as an exaggerated version of something that is already happening in footwear today. More and more flat, flexible, lightweight models with less structure are appearing.
“I, who almost always wear flats, like to think that it’s a ‘signal’ of where footwear is evolving: fewer shoes and more a sense of freedom, lightness, and naturalness,” Rivera explains.
Chanel takes that idea to its ultimate consequences. The result is probably not a model intended to become a wardrobe staple, but rather a proposal capable of presenting a trend that goes far beyond a single sandal.
Why they work on celebrities like Margaret Qualley
One thing is to understand the concept and another to imagine wearing sole-less sandals. And here, who wears them matters a lot. “With Margaret Qualley it works because of her aesthetic, adding that unexpected edge to the look, while maintaining the actress’s elegance and naturalness,” says Andrea Rivera.
The rest of the styling helped give the footwear full prominence. In the face of such an unconventional design, Qualley opted for a relatively simple look, letting the sandals themselves introduce the unexpected element.
Moreover, there is something in the actress’s own image that makes the proposal not feel so forced. The naturalness that typically accompanies her public appearances fits with a shoe that, precisely, tries to do away with almost everything.
A nod to the ‘method dressing’ used by celebrities like Zendaya?
Rivera also finds another interesting reading in the choice of these sandals precisely for the premiere of The Dog Stars. “I even find it interesting that they can connect with the universe of the film being presented and that idea of contact with nature, survival and getting back to basics,” explains the stylist.
The association, albeit with some caveats, recalls a strategy that Zendaya and her stylist Law Roach have turned into one of the most recognizable red-carpet formulas in recent years, the so-called method dressing.
During the promotion of Dune: Part Two, Zendaya wore looks with futuristic, metallic, and desert references that visually extended the film’s universe. With Challengers, sneakers became the visual through-line for much of her promotional looks.
In Margaret Qualley’s case we don’t know if that connection was intentional, so it would be too much to talk directly about method dressing. But the reading works. A pair of sandals that minimize the distance between the foot and the ground fit with that idea of contact with nature, survival, and getting back to the essentials that Andrea Rivera discusses.
Thus, what might seem simply a runway extravagance takes on a second reading within the film’s context. “Certainly, a premiere or a red carpet is the perfect place to take a risk with such a proposal,” says Andrea Rivera.
The red carpet allows experimenting with designs that would hardly have the same journey in everyday life. Fashion is part of the spectacle, and an unexpected accessory can turn a relatively simple ensemble into one of the most talked-about.
Runway of Chanel’s Cruise 2027 collection with sole-less sandals in gold.
It may be that we never reach the extreme of walking almost barefoot, but if that evolution toward “fewer and fewer shoes” continues, in a few years this Chanel proposal may not seem so strange to us.
