Colman Domingo and Justice Smith Find the Answer to Boring Men’s Dress Shoes for Red Carpets — Valentino Ballerina Flats
Over the past year, Colman Domingo has become the breakout star of men’s red carpets in Hollywood. While doing his first red carpet season as a leading man in 2024, he made himself known by wearing a series of standout looks. And what’s more, he did so by largely wearing classic menswear in a variety of attention-demanding fabrications and pumped with personality driven styling. So it’s little surprise that he would be one of the names helping to trumpet a new option to men’s dress shoes on the red carpet.
When you think of men’s dress shoes the options are generally slim: many opt for lace-up oxfords or derby style shoes. There’s also classic ankle boots. The fancier might opt for a double-monk strap and still others might do a loafer. But that’s really it in terms of variation. There’s the occasional cowboy boot, like Timothee Chalamet attempted at the 2025 SAG Awards, when appropriate and then there’s the few stars who choose heel. But that’s really it. Under Alessandro Michele’s Valentino though, there’s the ballerina.
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Worn by Domingo at the Screen Actors Guild Awards on Sunday — the rest of his look was also custom Valentino — and Justice Smith worn by the Independent Spirit Awards on Saturday, the shoe offers a slightly different silhouette than most men’s shoes. It is for all intents and purposes a ballet flat. There is a rounded vamp that swoops low on the foot, an almond toe and a small heel of less than an inch. The leather shoe also includes a bow across the foot — the vamp is cut so low that socks are visible between the bottom of the vow and the bottom of the vamp.
Valentino is currently selling its so-called Bowow Kidskin Ballerina for $1,150.
In fact, the shoe is one of two ballet style slip-ons the company is offering fo rmen. There’s the Valet Du Roi ballerina. That shoe includes a brown captoe bedecked with the Valentino VLogo in bold. The bow detail is made of leather tassels, which lean more menswear in the realm of a classic loafer. They also include a slight heel of just less than an inch and are being sold for $1,070.
This of course isn’t a first for men wearing ballet flats: GQ reported that men were increasingly wearing them from brands like Sandy Liang and Lemaire back in 2023. In addition, Harry Styles wore a pair on the cover of his 2022 album “Harry’s House.” But their infiltration onto major red carpets is notable.
The shoes comes amid brands continually offering men varying options for dressy shoes. Many brands are offering silhouette updates on classic styles like Prada, Bottega Veneta and Gucci. Notably, they are offering increasingly chunky platform soles. Gucci even offers a boot with a pumped up toe box. And then there’s others like Dior with its lace up styles and boots featuring a knotted silk embellishment. Those have been worn by Robert Pattinson, J Balvin and more.
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