This summer, flip-flops should be paired with long pants

In these turbulent times, fashion dreams of relaxation. A kind of relaxation that doesn’t just concern the proportions of clothes or the softness of fabrics but also the playful nature of looks, their deliberately casual attitude – always carefully curated, of course. Riding the wave of the Y2K revival, with its rugged and purposefully messy style, a specific combination of elements seems to have emerged from fashion’s underground: baggy pants and flip-flops. In general, the flip-flop – a long-standing classic of Italian (and of course Brazilian) summers – is experiencing a renewed wave of popularity: Havaianas, the brand that essentially invented the flip-flop, is releasing collaborations left and right, the most famous with Dolce&Gabbana, but also with Patta, TwoJeys, Gigi Hadid and even with the retail giant Zara; other flip-flops, which we’ll discuss shortly, made appearances in the SS25 collections of various brands during the past fashion weeks; but most of all, the public, encouraged by the season, is searching for them at an intense pace – just consider that the topic of flip-flops has increased by 57% in global Google searches compared to last year. But why this surge in popularity? The figure becomes more interesting when paired with real-life experience: flip-flops are no longer just beach shoes but are now seen everywhere, even in the city, often worn with extremely wide pants or shorts that almost completely cover them.

It might be helpful, when tackling the question, to think about how shoe trends have evolved over the past year and especially how different fashion brands have reinterpreted style. First of all, it’s important to recognize that the combination of long pants and flip-flops is a derivation of the trend that saw shoes becoming increasingly flat and thin, increasingly close to the ground, making the foot disappear under a rich drape of oversized and preferably flared trousers. The tone of this combination, which we admit is not the most traditionally elegant, perfectly reflects the taste for a deliberately lowbrow aesthetic, inspired by the late '90s and early 2000s mall rats – striped polos, chinos, checkered shirts, V-neck sweaters – not just a reaction to the quiet luxury of recent years, but almost a subtle perversion of normcore. Flip-flops go where the classic pool slide cannot, thanks only to the functionality of their design – a design that received an eccentric update in Balenciaga’s Pre-Fall 2025 collection, where Demna introduced the non-shoe Zero, made solely of a sole that clings to the foot by wrapping around the big toe, creating the illusion of a bare foot. A truly avant-garde shoe that, at its core, functions much like a flip-flop. Elsewhere, at Ferragamo, Proenza Schouler, and Alaïa, the flip-flop came with heels and leather construction; at Versace, it was worn with tone-on-tone socks, at Chanel and Casablanca it came with a platform sole, while Dries Van Noten featured them in fur. From the ultra-luxury of The Row, through the always stunning Auralee, and of course Miu Miu, all the way to Stussy and ERL.

In all these various incarnations, it’s certainly surprising to see the flip-flop on men’s runways – not because the combination hadn’t been seen before, but because that very combo usually occurred in very informal contexts and rarely became the focal point of a look. In our country, there are men who refuse to wear shorts, let alone step out in jeans and flip-flops like tourists. In a world where men’s sandals carry not-so-desirable connotations – from the monastic and Franciscan, to hippie or even the childish feel of Velcro sandals – flip-flops have continued to convey a sense of agility and vigor. Not by chance, they’re the only beach shoe not associated with either the elderly or children. And with global temperatures on the rise and cities increasingly populated even in summer, it was only a matter of time before flip-flops left Copacabana’s beaches and arrived on Europe’s sidewalks. To wear them in the city, however, there’s one key tip to remember: the combination works only if the flip-flops contrast with a city outfit; if you go out in shorts and a tank top, you’ll just look like a lost beachgoer 100km from the sea.