Angelina Jolie Travels in the Espadrille Sandal Trend Taking Over Europe

Sneakers? Leggings? The star would never.

Angelina Jolie attends the opening night of "The Outsiders" at The Bernard B. Jacobs Theatre on April 11, 2024 in New York City.
(Image credit: Getty Images)

Some celebrities operate at such a high style level, they don't have to follow any pre-prescribed rules. Angelina Jolie, who runs errands in rich mom stilettos, wins awards in the most elevated mother-daughter outfits you've ever seen, and designs Oscars gowns, is one of them.

Sauntering off a flight on Monday, August 12, the actress-turned-philanthropist-slash-fashion-designer ignored all the conventional wisdom about summer airplane outfits. Namely, that one should wear comfortable sneakers to speed-walk through the airport, or stretchy leggings to stretch out in her seat. Instead, she hit the tarmac in a summer shoe trend I've noticed reporting from Copenhagen Fashion Week and the heart of London: the towering espadrille sandal.

Angelina Jolie steps off a plane in a black coat and a black dress with tall sandals

Angelina Jolie was photographed exiting a plane in the opposite of a travel outfit.

(Image credit: Backgrid)

Jolie chose what appeared to be a pair of Christian Louboutin sandals set with leather straps and espadrille soles for her afternoon flight. She paired them back to a version of her day-to-day uniform, a black dress and a longline black trench coat. (So far, designer IDs for all three pieces have yet to be confirmed.)

Espadrille-sandal hybrids like Jolie's have been the main character of late-summer street style that I've observed while reporting abroad for Marie Claire this season. With a nudge from the boho wedge sandal revival kicked off on Chloé's runway, brands from Sézane to Franco Sarto have released pairs that are the cousins of another French girl shoe trend, the platform Mary Jane. However, these combine the beachy aura of an espadrille with the towering heights of a strong platform sandal. They've worked their way into casual outfits with drop-waist dresses, boho maxis, and bubble hem skirts, to name a few recent sightings.

That said, Angelina Jolie is the first person I've observed who's so committed to the sandal style, she wears it in transit. Maybe she is following a style rule after all: You should never leave your valuables under the plane.

Shop the Travel Sandal Trend Inspired by Angelina Jolie

Halie LeSavage
Senior Fashion News Editor

Halie LeSavage is the senior fashion news editor at Marie Claire, leading can't-miss coverage of runway trends, emerging brands, style-meets-culture analysis, and celebrity outfits (especially Taylor Swift's). Her features reporting ranges from profiles of beloved stylists, to breaking brand collaboration news, to exclusive red carpet interviews in her column, The Close-Up.

Previously, Halie held fashion editor roles at Glamour, Morning Brew, and Harper’s Bazaar. She has been cited as a fashion expert in The Cut, CNN Underscored, and Reuters, and more. In 2022, she earned the Hearst Spotlight Award for excellence in fashion journalism. She holds a bachelor’s degree in English from Harvard College. For a behind-the-scenes look at her stories, subscribe to her newsletter, Reliable Narrator.