Slingback Heels: The 2024 Trending Style Celebrities Will Bring Into 2025

The slingback is a shoe silhouette that stretches back years but its most famous iterations coming about in the 1950s. Still, more than half a century later the style is still seeing success cropping up on runways, worn by celebrities and by everyday women as a trending and often considered classic style.

One of the most famous slingback styles, the two-tone version, was created by Gabrielle “Coco” Chanel, herself. In 1957, working with the shoemaker Massaro Paris, Chanel created her first slingback. It included a block heel of about two inches and was two-tone. Much of the upper was beige but it also featured a black cap-toe. This was to create an optical illusion: the beige upper and heel would lengthen the leg as the beige would be close to the skin tone of many of its wearers. Conversely, the black toe would give the illusion of a smaller foot. The relatively short height of the heel underscored the Chanel ethos which was chic but wearable and utilitarian. Massaro Paris, which the Chanel company later purchased, was responsible for the idea to add elastic into the slingback for even more ease.

Of course this was not the invention of the slingback as a silhouette. In the 1950s it was a popular style with Jackie Onassis, Bridget Bardot and more wearing it. One of the most famous images from the period was Marilyn Monroe in 1955 in an image from “The Seven Year Itch” wearing white Ferragamo slingback heels featuring a small buckle. Still, the Chanel version has become a classic icon.

Over the past few years, the slingback has been seen worn by celebrities all over. Worn in a variety of heights and styles by designers like Saint Laurent, Gucci, Roger Vivier, Miu Miu and Gianvito Rossi, it is making its case as a wardrobe staple. Whether open-toe or closed, in matte fabrics or slick, the sandal offers many options to fans.