Men’s style icons have already voted them the shoes of the moment. Harry Styles wore a pair by Dior with a bow at the Brit Awards; Bad Bunny chose them instead by Dries Van Noten with laces crossed over the instep at the premiere of “Happy Gilmore 2.” At the Oscars 2026, Omar Apollo sported them in Valentino’s plate. We’re talking about ballet flats, a timeless must-have of women’s footwear and now becoming the stars of menswear as well. And yes, you don’t have to be a dancer to wear them, understand TimothĂ©e Chalamet?
That men’s style was evolving and diverting toward a decidedly more tailored and less sportswear turn we had seen for several seasons. But classic lace-ups have given way to a new kind of masculinity, less standardized and more fluid, with clear references to the female wardrobe. But we are not talking about a true genderless style, since the codes of men’s tailoring remain very specific and structured: we are simply talking about looks that are more open to experimentation, in some ways irreverent, softer. And if slippers and loafers had long since conquered male shoe cupboards, as Jacob Elordi, inseparable from his Bottega Veneta woven flat shoes, teaches, ballet flats are just yet another step forward in the process.
And it could not fail to involve one of the most celebrated and institutional brands when it comes to footwear, namely Christian Louboutin, which has launched two new models dedicated to weddings inspired by the silhouette of traditional ballet flats. The first, Diopica, features a square toe in full ballet-core flavor, crisscrossed elastics on the upper and the brand’s unmistakable red sole, contrasting with the black satin texture. On the other hand, for those who want a more traditional Oxford style, there is the Ruben model, a lace-up with laces and square toe, in either black satin or white napa leather, again with a red sole. Two models that testify to the unstoppable rise of soft shoes for men, clearly bucking the obsession with oversized sneakers of past seasons. Now, rather than less is more, soft is better.
[đź“·Instagram: christianlouboutin]
