Last week, actress Margaret Qualley arrived at the London premiere of The Dog Stars wearing a black fringed Chanel dress and the French fashion house’s new Barefoot sandals.
The unusual design, first unveiled at Chanel’s cruise show in April, consists of a sole beneath the heel tied around the ankle with thin straps, leaving most of the foot exposed.
Margaret Qualley wearing Chanel’s new Barefoot sandals
(Photo: Eamonn M. McCormack/Getty Images)
For now, the shoes are not available to the general public and are reserved for Chanel stars and VIP clients who, quite literally, want to stay close to the ground in style.
But Qualley is far from the first celebrity to bring bare feet onto the red carpet. Over the years, stars have kicked off their shoes in front of the cameras for very different reasons. Some were making a fashion statement. Others were protesting expectations that women wear heels. And sometimes, it was simply about comfort.
The clearest battleground has been the Cannes Film Festival, where high heels became a symbol of one of the entertainment industry’s most controversial gendered dress-code debates.
In 2015, reports emerged that women had been denied entry to screenings because they were wearing flat shoes. Festival director Thierry Frémaux later denied that there was any official rule requiring women to wear heels.
A year later, Julia Roberts famously walked barefoot up the Cannes red-carpet steps. In 2018, Kristen Stewart followed suit after repeatedly criticizing expectations that women conform to a particular dress code.
Men, of course, are also subject to formal dress requirements at Cannes. They are simply not expected to navigate the festival stairs in stilettos. Ahead of the Venice Film Festival, here are some of the stars who decided the shoes could stay behind.
Julia Roberts at Cannes, 2016
One of the most memorable barefoot red-carpet moments came at the Cannes premiere of Money Monster.
Roberts arrived in a black Armani Privé gown, accessorized with a Chopard emerald necklace. She initially wore heels but removed them while climbing the festival’s famous staircase and continued barefoot.
The move was seen as a protest against Cannes’ unofficial dress code. Julia Roberts
(Photo: Andreas Rentz/Getty Images)
The move was widely interpreted as a response to the controversy surrounding Cannes’ unofficial footwear expectations for women the previous year. Roberts never explicitly said she was protesting the policy, but that did little to stop the moment from being celebrated as an elegant act of rebellion.
Sasha Lane at Cannes, 2016
The same year, American Honey introduced audiences to Sasha Lane, then 20 and making her film debut. Whether Lane intended to join Roberts’ apparent protest is less clear. But after spending the day navigating the festival in formal clothes, she decided practicality mattered more.
“I was dressed in an elegant dress, and there are a lot of stairs, and I’m walking around all day,” she explained at the time. “So I decided to go barefoot. Why would anyone have a problem with that? I’m still here and I’m dressed well.”
‘I was wearing an elegant dress, and there are a lot of stairs.’ Sasha Lane
(Photo: Ian Gavan/Getty Images)
Kristen Stewart at Cannes, 2018
Two years later, it was Kristen Stewart’s turn. Stewart arrived at the premiere of BlacKkKlansman wearing a Chanel miniskirt and silver top with a pair of black Christian Louboutin stilettos. Just before heading up the stairs, she took off the shoes and continued barefoot.
Kristen Stewart
(Photo: Andreas Rentz/Getty Images)
For Stewart, the move could hardly be separated from her previous criticism of the festival’s dress expectations. “If you’re not asking guys to wear heels and a dress, then you can’t ask me either,” she had said.
Yet Stewart has continued to work within formal red-carpet dress codes, often bending them to fit her own style rather than rejecting them altogether.
(Photo: Tristan Fewings/Getty Images)
Cameron Diaz at a premiere, 2003
Sometimes, there is no protest involved at all. Cameron Diaz arrived at the premiere of Charlie’s Angels: Full Throttle alongside co-stars Drew Barrymore and Lucy Liu when one of her heels broke during the event.
Diaz simply took off both shoes and carried on barefoot. Her ability to roll with the mishap helped turn what could have been an awkward wardrobe malfunction into one of her more memorable red-carpet moments.
Cameron Diaz with Drew Barrymore and Lucy Liu
(Photo: Kevin Winter/Getty Images)
Thomas Jane at a premiere, 2009
Actor Thomas Jane arrived barefoot at the premiere of his HBO series Hung, reflecting a preference that extended well beyond the red carpet. “I like the feeling of my body connected to the ground, whereas with shoes your feet are just imprisoned all day,” he explained in a 2016 interview.
His choice stands out because it removes much of the gender politics associated with women going barefoot at formal events. For Jane, it was less an act of rebellion than a physical and emotional preference for feeling grounded.
Thomas Jane
(Photo: Frederick M. Brown/Getty Images)
Doechii at the Met Gala, 2026
Rapper Doechii became one of the latest stars to embrace the barefoot look when she attended this year’s Met Gala wearing an asymmetric eggplant-colored Marc Jacobs gown with henna-style decoration on her feet.
She chose to skip shoes entirely. The singer said the look was intended to feel “human, vulnerable and grounded.”
‘I’m not afraid of the floor.’ Doechii at the Met Gala
(Photo: Mike Coppola/Getty Images)
“It’s very comfortable, but it’s also very vulnerable,” she told Variety. “I feel like bare feet symbolize being grounded. I’m not afraid of the floor.”
Kesha at the Grammys, 2026
A few months earlier, Kesha exposed her toes on the Grammys red carpet. The singer wore a dramatic pale feathered gown by Russian label Atelier Biser, designed by Ksenia Podvalnaya, and chose to forgo both shoes and additional accessories.
Unlike Stewart and Roberts at Cannes, Kesha’s barefoot appearance was not framed primarily as a protest against a dress code. It was part of a look built around freedom and independence.
Kesha at the Grammys
(Photo: Jordan Strauss/Invision/AP)
Speaking to E! News, she said the inspiration was Athena, the Greek goddess associated with wisdom and warfare. “I wanted to look like Athena. I’ve been very inspired by her lately, and I wanted to bring this feeling of freedom,” she said.
“This is my first Grammys in eight years as a free woman, as the owner of a record label and as someone who is in control of her voice. I wanted what I looked like on the outside to match how I feel on the inside.”