In the summer of 2018, Justin Bieber made a habit of walking around New York City in what looked like hotel slippers. He’d worn them out before, but by then he went seemingly everywhere in a plush white pair: To grab a coffee, to a church service at Hillsong, even to the beach. The choice baffled fans. Why was a multimillionaire wearing something that many hotel guests get for free? And did he not care about dirt? He remained undeterred. Later he incorporated the accessory into his streetwear brand, Drew House, ultimately paving the way for what has become one of the biggest trends of the past year. If members of the fashion world were confused by outdoor slippers then, they have since embraced them as an answer to our post-pandemic longing for home comforts.
The Row’s pre-fall 2024 collection included several versions: open- and closed-toe slip-ons made of black-and-white superfine silk terry, some of them worn with coats. Like Bieber, the brand’s designers, Mary-Kate and Ashley Olsen, favor styling that appears effortless and footwear that seems better suited to Uber rides than the sidewalk. For them, the shoes make sense. But they weren’t alone in showing elevated riffs on the house slipper. Miuccia Prada sent branded leather versions that resembled Tony Soprano’s down Miu Miu’s fall 2024 runway, and Matthieu Blazy designed a pair of leather slipper socks for Bottega Veneta the season before. Bode currently offers slippers for outdoor wear, and Prada, Wales Bonner, JW Anderson and Stòffa all sell men’s styles of their own. New interpretations appeared last month on the runways at Carven and Toteme.
“What I see happening is this arms race between luxury brands to see who can be the most insouciant and take casual luxury to its ultimate conclusion,” says Laura Reilly, the author of the shopping newsletter Magasin. If wearing expensive house slippers outside is likely to raise eyebrows, the appeal for customers is just as clear: These shoes are minimalist and surprisingly elegant. Maybe, they hint, you really did just roll out of the Ritz. “Now that we’ve normalized flip-flops as luxury items,” Reilly says, “the next frontier is an indoor shoe that’s never supposed to be seen by outside eyes.”
Neelam Ahooja, a longtime customer of the Row’s who has purchased the brand’s flip-flops in the past, recently bought a pair of its Frances slippers for $990 and isn’t afraid to wear them around Toronto, where she lives. “I think they’re amazing,” she says, describing them as comfortable and timeless. Made in silk jacquard with a leather sole similar to those of the Row’s other flats, they’re intended for “indoor-outdoor wear,” according to the company’s website. “They could be like a Birkenstock,” Ahooja says. “I treat them in the same way, except that they do work with more of an elevated look.” Now that the weather is cooler, she styles them with socks.
“You can wear them for every occasion, from cleaning your house to the party you’ve been looking forward to going to all week,” says the Belgian designer Marie Adam-Leenaerdt, whose namesake line sells two styles of leather slipper: one with a flat sole, another with a wedge heel, both with a small bow on top. Naturally the idea came to her when she was working from home. But she produced the shoes in leather — far hardier than terry cloth or silk — so that she could wear them anywhere. “The leather is very soft, like a second skin,” she says. “I wear the high heels, and I can walk for miles in them.”
In addition to being comfortable, slippers project confidence when worn outdoors, some fans find — a sense of proudly defying convention. “I don’t really care what anyone thinks,” says Ahooja in response to people who might question her decision to buy and wear her pair. Not even her husband, who, when he saw them, laughed and said, “Please don’t tell me those are by the Row.”
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