--- title: 'Margaret Qualley’s Barefoot Chanel Sandals Took Over The Dog Stars' type: 'blog post' section: 'Away From Set' format: 'Editorial feature' standfirst: 'At the London premiere for Ridley Scott’s The Dog Stars, Margaret Qualley wore Chanel sandals with a heel, straps and almost no shoe. The result: a red carpet built for a movie, swallowed whole by footwear discourse.' author: 'Dorothy Kwan' published: '2026-08-24' updated: '2026-08-24' about_people: - 'Margaret Qualley' tags: - 'Margaret Qualley barefoot Chanel sandals' - 'Margaret Qualley The Dog Stars premiere look' - 'Chanel shoeless shoes red carpet' - 'The Dog Stars London premiere Margaret Qualley' - 'Margaret Qualley Good Morning America Chanel barefoot' - 'Ridley Scott The Dog Stars cast' - 'Chanel Cruise 2027 barefoot sandals' sources: - 'https://www.nbclosangeles.com/entertainment/entertainment-news/margaret-qualley-barefoot-sandals-reactions/3932813/' - 'https://www.yahoo.com/entertainment/celebrity/articles/internet-losing-over-margaret-qualley-140011412.html' - 'https://www.msn.com/en-us/lifestyle/lifestyle-buzz/the-internet-is-having-a-field-day-with-chanel-s-controversial-barefoot-shoes-after-margaret-qualley-s-red-carpet-appearance/ar-AA2aFEwY' - 'https://www.usmagazine.com/stylish/news/margaret-qualley-frees-her-toes-in-barefoot-chanel-shoes/' canonical: 'https://cinepixo.com/blog/margaret-qualleys-barefoot-chanel-sandals-took-over-the-dog-stars' publisher: 'CinePixo' --- # Margaret Qualley’s Barefoot Chanel Sandals Took Over The Dog Stars *At the London premiere for Ridley Scott’s The Dog Stars, Margaret Qualley wore Chanel sandals with a heel, straps and almost no shoe. The result: a red carpet built for a movie, swallowed whole by footwear discourse.* By Dorothy Kwan, 2026-08-24 · Away From Set Margaret Qualley changed the conversation around Ridley Scott’s The Dog Stars on August 20 by showing up at the film’s London world premiere in Chanel’s nearly barefoot sandals. NBC Los Angeles reported that Qualley wore the “shoeless shoes” at Odeon Luxe Leicester Square while promoting the upcoming film, and Us Weekly reported that she confirmed the bit herself to Good Morning America: she was “Chanel barefoot.” Film readers should care because this is how publicity works now: a Ridley Scott apocalypse movie walks onto a red carpet, and the feet steal the oxygen. ## Margaret Qualley Put The Dog Stars Under Her Feet Qualley attended the world premiere of The Dog Stars in London, according to NBC Los Angeles, wearing a black Chanel look and the footwear that made the photographs travel. Yahoo reported that the film, directed by Scott and based on Peter Heller’s novel, stars Qualley alongside Jacob Elordi and Josh Brolin. Yahoo also reported that The Dog Stars follows Elordi’s pilot character after a flu pandemic has wiped out most of humanity. Us Weekly identified Qualley’s character as Cima, a doctor, and listed Josh Brolin and Guy Pearce among the cast. The film is set for theaters on August 28, according to both Yahoo and Us Weekly. Fine. Movie, premiere, famous director, literary source, apocalypse, survivalists, dog. You can almost hear the campaign trying to hold all that together with binder clips. Then Qualley arrives in a dress and shoes that look as if Chanel sold the punchline separately, and suddenly the movie has a cleaner hook than any studio sentence could give it. ![Margaret Qualley during a photocall for the film "Honey Dont!" at the 2025 Cannes Film Festival](https://pokemon-dive.us-lax-4.linodeobjects.com/cinepixo/posts/2026/08/bf2e93e2-93c7-4ac1-aa88-ca72516fd26b.webp) *Photo: Gabriel Hutchinson · [CC BY-SA 4.0](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0) · [source](https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Margaret_Qualley_at_the_2025_Cannes_Film_Festival_03.jpg)* ## Chanel’s Sandals Are Almost A Refusal To Be Shoes NBC Los Angeles described the Chanel footwear as “shoeless shoes.” Us Weekly reported that the pair had a heel and two straps tied in bows around the ankle. Yahoo reported that the sandals had a heel cap and ankle straps but no actual sole, leaving the toes and the ball of the foot exposed. That is the whole joke and the whole charge. A shoe usually makes a basic promise: I will come between you and the floor. Chanel seems to have looked at that contract and said, darling, how literal. Us Weekly reported that Qualley paired the sandals with a Chanel dress with a plunging neckline, short sleeves, a fitted waist and fringe. Yahoo described the look as an all-black Chanel ensemble from the Resort 2027 collection, with a shaggy black fringe dress, diamond earrings, black manicure and pedicure, and long dark hair in loose waves. There is a real jolt here. The sandals are silly, yes. They are also efficient. They make the eye drop straight to the foot, then back up to the dress, then back down because your brain still wants to solve the object. Is it a sandal? A heel? An anklet with delusions of architecture? You look again. That is not nothing. ![Margaret Qualley at Berlinale 2025](https://pokemon-dive.us-lax-4.linodeobjects.com/cinepixo/posts/2026/08/6aa9e6fa-dfdb-4427-95c5-5c8963377f18.webp) ![Ethan Hawke and Margaret Qualley at Berlinale 2025](https://pokemon-dive.us-lax-4.linodeobjects.com/cinepixo/posts/2026/08/47c8e641-0de9-463a-929b-46a685a83cd5.webp) *Photos: Elena Ternovaja · [CC BY-SA 3.0](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0) · [source 1](https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Margaret_Qualley_at_Berlinale_2025.jpg), [source 2](https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Ethan_Hawke_and_Margaret_Qualley,_2025.jpg)* ## The Reactions Split Between Chic And Foot Panic NBC Los Angeles reported that the look went viral after the premiere, with some social media users liking the high-fashion design and others saying the sandals were not shoes at all. The same outlet noted that the shoes had already drawn opinions when they appeared on Chanel’s runway in April at a show in Biarritz, where creative director Matthieu Blazy’s design had sparked debate. The jokes wrote themselves because the object looks like a joke that got promoted. NBC Los Angeles cited one X user calling the shoes a sign of “shrinkflation,” and another predicting that Chanel might sell the front part next season. It also cited supporters calling the design chic. Yahoo reported harsher reactions from Reddit, including users calling the shoes “absolutely ridiculous” and “hideous.” One Reddit user, according to Yahoo, said the dress was okay but objected to “these hideous things” on her feet. Another questioned why Chanel had a celebrity walk a red carpet practically barefoot. This is where fashion discourse gets funny because everyone suddenly becomes a municipal health inspector with a couture vocabulary. Exposed toes on a red carpet turn into a civic matter. The bare foot is never just a bare foot once a luxury house puts a strap around it. ![Margaret Qualley at Berlinale 2025](https://pokemon-dive.us-lax-4.linodeobjects.com/cinepixo/posts/2026/08/2e43d30f-99db-4614-9c55-9701fa2738bb.webp) ![Margaret Qualley at Golden Globes 2025](https://pokemon-dive.us-lax-4.linodeobjects.com/cinepixo/posts/2026/08/d04aa7cd-5b5b-4076-a88a-092b4c59288a.webp) *Photos: Elena Ternovaja · [CC BY-SA 3.0](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0) · [source](https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Margaret_Qualley_at_Berlinale_2025_(cropped).jpg); Rainey Qualley and Anthony Wilson · [CC BY-SA 4.0](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0) · [source](https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Margaret_Qualley_at_Golden_Globes_2025_by_Anthony_Wilson.jpg)* ## The Publicity Machine Got A Better Hook Than It Deserved The Dog Stars has a clean enough pitch: Ridley Scott directs a post-pandemic survival story with Elordi, Qualley and Brolin. Yahoo reported that the story takes place nine years after a flu pandemic wipes out most of humanity, with Elordi’s character surviving at an abandoned airport with his dog and other survivors. Us Weekly reported that the characters travel through a post-apocalyptic land to find the source of a radio transmission. But listen to that wording for half a second. Pandemic. Survival. Abandoned airport. Radio transmission. These are sturdy nouns, yet they start to sound assembled by a committee when stacked too neatly. The film may have a pulse; the reporting here does not let us say whether it does, because the film has not opened yet and this piece has not seen it. What the premiere did have was an image with snap. Qualley did not need to explain the sandals for them to work as publicity. She only had to stand there while every camera asked the same dumb, useful question: where is the rest of the shoe? ## Margaret Qualley Knew The Bit Was Barefoot The best detail comes from Us Weekly’s report that Qualley acknowledged the look on Good Morning America while looking down at her feet: “I’m Chanel barefoot.” That line matters because it kills the fake mystery. Nobody has to pretend these are normal sandals. Qualley knew the gag. Chanel knew the gag. The carpet got the gag. Then the internet did what it does when a luxury object arrives half-dressed: it prosecuted the evidence. The divided reaction is the point. A universally adored red carpet look dies in the feed after one polite lap. A disputed one keeps moving because it gives people something to swat at. The Chanel sandals are not practical, and calling them practical would insult everybody involved. They are a red carpet provocation with bows. So The Dog Stars got its premiere coverage, but Qualley’s feet got the headline. The film opens August 28. The sandals already did their job. ## How this piece was made **Format:** Editorial feature ## In this piece - [Margaret Qualley](https://cinepixo.com/people/margaret-qualley) ## Sources - https://www.nbclosangeles.com/entertainment/entertainment-news/margaret-qualley-barefoot-sandals-reactions/3932813/ - https://www.yahoo.com/entertainment/celebrity/articles/internet-losing-over-margaret-qualley-140011412.html - https://www.msn.com/en-us/lifestyle/lifestyle-buzz/the-internet-is-having-a-field-day-with-chanel-s-controversial-barefoot-shoes-after-margaret-qualley-s-red-carpet-appearance/ar-AA2aFEwY - https://www.usmagazine.com/stylish/news/margaret-qualley-frees-her-toes-in-barefoot-chanel-shoes/ Every factual claim above is drawn from these. The reading of them is ours. Source: https://cinepixo.com/blog/margaret-qualleys-barefoot-chanel-sandals-took-over-the-dog-stars Written for CinePixo. Nothing on this page is imported prose.