Katie Holmes and Gigi Hadid Elevate a Moody Denim Trend With This Chic Ballet Flat Styling Hack

Katie Holmes and Gigi Hadid are currently an ocean apart. The former is in New York City, test-driving new, bejeweled crossbody bags on the party circuit and holding impromptu street-style photoshoots. The latter is at Paris Fashion Week, fêting the final runways of the season at the inaugural Grande Dîner du Louvre. But with vastly different schedules taking place on two separate continents, both women have endorsed the same denim trend and ballet flat styling trick—all within 24 hours of one another.

Despite their different obligations and personal styles, both Katie Holmes and Gigi Hadid appear to equally appreciate two things: the so-gray-it's-nearly-black winter denim trend that was all over the resort collections, and the hack of layering contrasting socks beneath ballet flats. Holmes's take arrived on one of her usual walks around Manhattan on Mar. 4. She snuggled up in a gray mohair sweater with her darker-wash jeans underneath, then added the cozy one-two punch of woven chocolate brown ballet flats and black trouser socks

A Delta flight away, Gigi Hadid headed to a Schiaparelli fitting on Mar. 5 wearing her second Isabel Marant jacket of Paris Fashion Week. She sandwiched the striped jacket over an oatmeal polo from her knitwear label, Guest in Residence, and a black crewneck T-shirt. These upper layers were more involved than Holmes's, but the bottom half of her outfit was nearly identical. She also chose straight-leg jeans in a dark gray wash, plus ballet flats and ribbed socks. Ever a fan of a rugby stripe, Hadid's socks were printed with bands of cream and orange instead of plain black.

Are these outfits a sign that Katie Holmes and Gigi Hadid source denim trends from the same Substack? Or that they're trading ballet flat styling tips in the same group chat? (Hadid's shirt sandwich definitely suggests she's on the list for Leandra Medine's Cereal Aisle newsletter.) That's probably a bridge too far. We know from their shared style wavelength that gray-wash denim and layered ballet flats are just the pieces a winter-to-spring wardrobe needs—wherever you're getting dressed.