The Ballet Flat

Ever since it was first imagined in the 1700s, the ballet flat has been in and out of fashion. Now, in 2024, they are back in style more than ever. But their recent rise in popularity isn’t merely another case of a fashion trend re-emerging from the past; it represents the culmination of a slow and steady transition in the footwear industry from chunky shoes to flat ones.

Alaïa, Ballerine in mesh via Vogue

The transition from oversized chunky shoes to simple flat shoes spans roughly ten years. At either end of this spectrum, two iconic silhouettes stand as emblems of their respective eras: the aforementioned ballet flat and the Balenciaga Triple S. The Balenciaga Triple S was first released in 2017. This silhouette, like the recently released Platform Sneaker and indeed most of the footwear that comes out of the Balenciaga house, is designed to be grotesquely oversized and overlayered. It is made from three stacked soles that create a platform of 6.5 cm, and each iteration is purposely oversaturated with material and color. The ballet flat, on the other hand, is an exaggeratedly simple and understated shoe. While the Balenciaga Triple S was designed to push the boundaries of fashion, the ballet flats were originally designed to be functional. For decades, ballet was strictly performed in heels. It wasn’t until the 1700s when French dancer Marie Camargo performed in flats that the shoes became a staple for ballerinas. Since then, the shoes have been revisited and reimagined, most notably by Chanel, Maison Margiela, and Miu Miu. But, even today, they remain simple, elegant, and true to their original design. Unlike the Triple S’s, they are normally made from one material and come in very simple colorways. There is also a small matter of 6.5 cm in sole that separates one from another. These two silhouettes then not only embody two very different approaches to design, but they also look and feel incredibly different.

Balenciaga Triple S, 2017 via Cult Edge

Over the last decade, there have been certain silhouettes that have pushed this transition more than others. The first is the Adidas Originals x Raf Simons “Ozweego 1's,” released in 2013. Though they don’t have the same acclaim as the Triple S's, and most people will cite the bulky skateboarding shoes of the 90s as the true ancestors of the chunky revolution, these multi-paneled, multitextured shoes helped to kickstart the oversized trend. What they did was bring the oversized style to the attention of both streetwear and high fashion brands. In fact, in the years after their release, the Balenciaga Triple S's, the Yeezy Boost 700s, the Asap Rocky x Under Armours SRLO's, and more chunky Raf Simons followed. The next important silhouette was the New Balance 530, otherwise known as the original dad shoe. Originally released in 1992, it exploded back onto the scene in 2022. Its re-emergence was symptomatic of the chunky trend. Within this context, its awkward and clunky design found new life and plunged the footwear industry into the dad shoe era. What followed was the re-releasing of the iconic Nike Air Monarch and many, many more New Balances. Then came the Wales Bonner x Adidas originals collection. This hugely successful collaboration not only threw the Adidas Sambas and indeed all flat footwear into the limelight, it threw the entire footwear industry in another direction. Suddenly, the Adidas Sambas were everywhere. What ensued were inevitably more Samba colorways, but also the re-releasing and increasing popularity of other flat silhouettes, the Adidas Gazelles, the Puma Palermo’s, the Asics Onitsuka Tiger Mexico 66’s, and even classic indoor football shoes such as the Nike T90’s and the Adidas Predators. This shift in style is epitomized by the Miu Miu x New Balance collaboration that followed a year later. Miu Miu took the New Balance 530’s, a traditionally chunky shoe, and turned it into a flat sneaker whose sole, writes GQ, “is so absurdly low that it’s practically non-existent.” Now, in 2024, we have another silhouette whose sole is so low that it’s practically non-existent: the ballet flat. The stark contrast between this silhouette and the Ozweego 1’s and the Triple S’s is a visual testament to just how much footwear has changed over the last decade.

 Adidas Original x Wales Bonner via IG @walesbonner

The question that remains to be answered is why – what has pushed the footwear industry from big, chunky trainers to the sleek, simple ballet flat?

One reason is the cyclic nature of fashion. It’s 2024 – chunky trainers are out and flat shoes are in. This is the natural state of things in a changeable, unforgiving fashion world. As is the well-accepted notion that anything that sits at the top must eventually come down. Chunky trainers dominated the footwear industry for over ten years. Their inevitable decline, as Highsnobiety writes, is a natural result of them being big for so long.

Miu Miu x New Balance 530 via IG @miumiu

Then there are the reasons to do with their design. The first, as Harper Bazaar points out, is that the ballet flats resemble a slipper. The silhouette is comfortable, practical, and wearable. There are Vogue articles that list over ten ways to style these shoes. The rise of the ballet flat runs parallel to the rise of more practical and comfortable fashion. For instance, take the popularity of brands that use weather-resistant materials like Arcteryx, Montbell, and ROA Hiking. The popular ballet flat is symptomatic of a movement away from abstract, disruptive footwear like the Balenciaga Triple S and the movement toward more understated, practical fashion.

The second is that the ballet flat is really quite different from the chunky sneaker. In moving from one to the other, the industry has not only shifted from abstract to practical but also from elaborate and ambitious to simple and wearable. The ballet flat strips away the excess of the Triple S, removing two of its soles, bringing it down from its 6.5 cm height, and reducing its many materials and colors. At every level, it is a more straightforward, stripped-back design. Maybe this is far-fetched – but does this not mirror a similar shift among young people today to simplify their own lives? That is, to spend less time on social media, to own fewer things, to cut down on technology, even to “rawdog” long journeys, and on the other hand, to spend more time in nature, to be in better contact with themselves, and to exercise more? Perhaps another reason why the ballet flat has become so popular is because of this desire to simplify modern life. Might then the rise of the ballet flat highlight more than what we are wearing on our feet and point to something bigger than just footwear?