The Tamesis
Katie Holmes hit the American Image Awards red carpet earlier this week, posing for the assembled photographers. The event is held to honor fashion industry superstars such as Fabletics’ Adam Goldenberg, Gap’s Zac Posen and Timberland’s Nina Flood with statuettes that can also be given directly to the actresses themselves. Holmes’s influence on the style of fashion-conscious women—or so the publicist who dresses her told me—has also boosted the industry’s bottom line.
Consider the otherwise quietly luxe braided top she wore in 2019, which sold out almost immediately when she was photographed hailing a cab in Manhattan and launched the then-relatively unknown manufacturer Khaite into global success. There she was again, wearing the same street-glam look: a custom tuxedo from Gap Studio, paired with a pair of Herbert Levine’s patented so-called “glove shoes.” Named for their second-skin fit, they feature a high upper that wraps around the arch of the foot. At a time when push-up bras like the ones worn by Addison Rae and Olivia Rodrigo are in vogue, these utilitarian heels, which cover up more unsightly toe cleavage, are just one example of the fashion industry’s shift toward more formal footwear.
This style is popping up on the spring 2026 runways, including Toteme and Courrèges, Wales Bonner and Céline, Proenza Schouler and Stella McCartney. Matthieu Blazy’s form-fitting take on Chanel’s classic two-tone court shoe dropped midway through Paris Fashion Week and fashion editors flocked to Rue Cambon boutiques, including Brits Fashion Contributing editor Olivia Singer talks about the trend’s game-changing appeal. “Far from being a return to the traditional wife, the re-emergence of the classic high-heeled shoe is, in part, a subversion of the archetype because of its context,” she writes. She suggests that ladylike heels need not be reserved for British afternoon tearooms but are equally suitable for riding quad bikes, partying, or even fending off a lightning storm of paparazzi on the red carpet.
