In 2023, the magazine named the ballet flat the most fashionable shoe in street style; in 2024, it named it a seasonal must-have; and less than three weeks into 2025, it has established it as a mainstream “It-shoe.”
To be fair: these flats were plentiful on nearly every sidewalk and catwalk in the years before the balletcore TikTok phenomenon, which took a strange turn with the advent of “ballet cappuccino” if you were under 16.
Over the past two weeks, a slew of articles have been headlined “What is a Ballerina Cappuccino? And why do my kids keep saying it?”.
“Ballerina Cappuccina,” an early example of Generation Alpha slang, refers to a ridiculous meme in which an AI-generated ballerina with a cappuccino cup for a head twirls as a voiceover narrates what is essentially Italian gibberish: “Ballerina Cappuccina, mi-mi-mi-mi / È la moglie di Cappuccino Assassino E ama la musica, la-la-la-la / La sua passione è il Ballerino Lolol.”
Whoever — or what — Ballerina Cappuccina is, she’s an icon. In fact, elementary school students have begun fawning over her by her name.
Kendall Jenner and Gigi Hadid are two of the most accomplished celebs who have perfectly embodied the free-spirited Ballerina Cappuccina aesthetic.
The two friends were photographed yesterday afternoon after the Met Gala sharing their own take on the ballerina trend: Gigi in camo pants and olive green Miu Miu ballet flats, paired with a bubblegum pink Chanel 22 bag; Kendall in a beige tank top, straight jeans, and an Olsen-designed Hobo bag, all in an Eva ballerina look.
This photo could be a still from Sex and the City. It’s worth pondering that before the ballerina cappuccino twirled with gibberish, Kylie was talking gibberish in a tutu.