CBK SUMMER

Summer’s Biggest Footwear Trend Is Totally Carolyn Bessette-Kennedy-Coded

From Havaianas to The Row, the minimalist sandal style CBK loved is everywhere this summer.

Scouted/The Daily Beast/Evan Agostini/Getty Images/Toteme.

Updated Jul 14, 2025 5:03PM EDTPublished Jul 14, 2025 4:12PM EDT

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It’s official: 2025 is the summer of Carolyn Bessette-Kennedy. Thanks to the steady drip of candid images burning up my social feed from the set of Ryan Murphy’s forthcoming series, American Love Story, the late CBK’s style is once again front and center. The series (premiering in Feb. 2026), which will chronicle her relationship with John F. Kennedy Jr., has reignited our collective love for her high-low minimalism… even as it fails to actually capture it. (CBK devotees have noticed the missteps: satin skirts that scream Zara clearance rack, a Birkin bag that hangs limp like a Canal Street knockoff, and a bottled blonde that’s nowhere near her iconic “buttery chunks,” perfected by colorist Brad Johns.)

Despite these oversights, I’m still fully on board with CBK Summer—though my fascination started long before the Murphy machine kicked in. After devouring Elizabeth Bellmer’s biography Once Upon a Time: The Captivating Life of Carolyn Bessette-Kennedy last year (and following it up with every documentary, YouTube clip, and Carole Radziwill’s memoir What Remains), my casual admiration turned into full-blown obsession. Like many with a soft spot for fashion history and an unhealthy nostalgia streak, I’ve been quietly studying her style playbook ever since.

That playbook is why one of the biggest footwear trends of the summer makes perfect sense: the humble black flip-flop (or thongs, as we called them back in the 2000s).

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Carolyn was often photographed in her Havaianas, pairing the unfussy sandal with carpenter jeans, a black turtleneck, and her famously full Birkin—a masterclass in blending laid-back practicality with stealth luxury. Even now, her preference for what we’d once call a “sloppy” shoe feels ahead of its time: minimalist, utilitarian, quiet.

And this season, designers are catching up. Flip-flops are everywhere—from the original under-$30 Havaianas to more elevated iterations by The Row and Toteme. Their appeal is as practical as it is chic: they’re perfect for running errands, pedicures (a CBK-approved ritual), dog walks, and summer weekends in Hyannis Port.

Whether you stick with the OG Havaianas or upgrade to something more luxe, the message is clear: the flip-flop is the quiet-luxury summer shoe you didn’t know you needed—and Carolyn called it first.