The History of the Hero: The Chanel ballet flat

13 Oct 2023

The ballet flat is back – not that it really ever went away – and we couldn’t be happier.
The Chanel ballet flat as we know it now didn’t come to fruition until the 1980s, but the foundations were laid much, much earlier – in 1957, to be precise. Crafted from soft, beige leather with a black toe cap, the ballerina was officially inducted into the Chanel hall of fame in spring/summer 1984.The shoe’s suppleness and styling resembled footwear traditionally worn by ballet dancers – an homage by Lagerfeld to Coco Chanel, who had passed away 13 years earlier and had been a fervent fan of Paris’ Ballet Russes.
Today, as we find ourselves in the chokehold of a 2000s style renaissance, it should be no surprise that the ballet flat is sauntering back into our wardrobes.