Margaret Qualley just wore Chanel’s controversial ‘barefoot’ sandals on the red carpet

Margaret Qualley may have arrived at ‘The Dog Stars’ premiere in a perfectly polished Chanel look, but it was her shoes that everyone ended up talking about.

At the film's London premiere on August 20, the actor appeared in a black Chanel dress and a pair of sandals that looked, at first glance, like she had simply forgotten to put on shoes.

She hadn't. The shoes were very much Chanel. They were also one of the most talked-about pieces from Matthieu Blazy's recent collection for the house.

The unusual footwear, paired with a flowing black fringed dress, comes from Matthieu Blazy's first Cruise collection for Chanel, presented in Biarritz earlier this year.

What are these 'barefoot' Chanel shoes?

Calling them sandals is already doing quite a lot of work. They are almost more of a shoe idea than a conventional shoe.

The design has a small structure around the heel, with slim straps securing it around the ankle, while the front of the foot is left completely open. There is no regular sole covering the toes or the ball of the foot, which creates the strange effect of wearing heels while otherwise appearing barefoot. 

And Qualley was among the first major stars to take the design off the runway and onto a major red carpet. She wore the shoes with black polish on her toes, which made the whole thing even more noticeable.

The shoes first appeared in Biarritz

The sandals were introduced as part of Chanel's Cruise 2026/27 collection, presented by Blazy in Biarritz, France.

Biarritz is not simply another glamorous setting chosen for a Chanel show. Gabrielle Chanel opened her couture house there in 1915, bringing together a boutique, workshops, salons and an apartment. The Basque coastal town was one of the places where the Chanel aesthetic began taking shape.

So, for Blazy's first Cruise collection for Chanel, returning to Biarritz was a way of looking back at the house's early history while starting something new.

The collection itself played with the idea of the Chanel salon meeting the seaside. The house describes it as the salon slipping into the beach, with the familiar Chanel codes appearing alongside lighter, more relaxed pieces.

There were seashell-inspired earrings, coral and starfish details, mermaid-like embellishments, striped pieces, giant straw baskets and even looks inspired by swimwear. There were also flowing silk looks, raffia skirts and washed cotton tailoring, among other elements that gave the collection a distinctly coastal feel. And in that setting, the barely-there footwear did not seem quite as strange.

On a beach-inspired runway, shoes that leave most of the foot exposed feel almost logical. Put the same shoes on a London red carpet, however, and suddenly they become the main event.

Qualley's dress was almost the opposite of the shoes. She chose a black Chanel dress with a V-neck, cap sleeves and layers of delicate fringe, giving the look a soft, slightly bohemian feel. The movement of the fringe kept the dress from looking too formal, while the black colour gave it the classic red-carpet quality you would expect from Chanel.

She kept the rest of the styling relatively simple. Her hair was worn loose in soft waves and her jewellery was minimal. The dark polish on her hands and feet added a small but deliberate detail. It was a clever way to style a shoe that could easily overwhelm an outfit.

Had she paired the sandals with an equally dramatic dress, the look could have tipped into costume territory. Instead, the black dress gave them room to be weird.

From a beach runway to a movie premiere

There is something quite amusing about the journey these shoes have taken. They were introduced in a collection inspired by Biarritz, a place with a strong connection to Chanel's history and a distinctly seaside identity. The runway itself leaned into that atmosphere, with clothing and accessories that felt lighter and more relaxed than the usual idea of a Chanel occasion look.

Then Qualley took one of the collection's strangest accessories and placed it in the very different setting of a film premiere.

That contrast is probably part of why the look has travelled so quickly online. The shoes are easy to understand in a photograph, but much harder to ignore once you realise that the actor is actually wearing them on a carpet.

Margaret Qualley and Chanel go way back

Qualley is not a newcomer to the Chanel universe. The actor has worked closely with the fashion house for years and has appeared in Chanel shows and worn the brand for major events. Her relationship with the house makes an experimental choice like this feel less random.

She has also developed a red-carpet style that often leans towards romance and softness rather than predictable glamour. That makes the contrast with these deliberately odd shoes particularly interesting.

The dress says classic Chanel. The footwear says something closer to fashion experiment.

Would these actually work outside a red carpet?

The shoes are certainly eye-catching, but practicality is not exactly their strongest selling point. Walking around barefoot is one thing. Wearing a heel that leaves most of your foot exposed while navigating city pavements is another.

But high fashion has never been entirely about practicality. They are not currently listed for general sale online, suggesting that access may be limited to select Chanel clients. And perhaps that is the point: this is an experimental piece created to spark conversation, not something the brand expects everyone to love or wear.

Sometimes a runway piece is there to make you think about what a familiar item can become. A shoe does not necessarily have to cover the whole foot. A little black dress does not have to remain the same forever. And a Chanel collection does not have to stay inside the familiar Parisian fashion world.

That seems to be the fun of Blazy's barefoot shoes. They look slightly ridiculous, slightly clever and completely unlike the shoes most of us would reach for before leaving the house. And on Qualley, they have found exactly the kind of stage where that tension works.

The actor's black Chanel dress was beautiful enough to stand on its own. But it was the almost-shoes that made people stop and ask, "Wait, is she actually barefoot?" In fashion, sometimes that is exactly the point.