Jennifer Lawrence Wears Summer’s Most Divisive Shoe

Jennifer Lawrence is famously private but, since relocating from Los Angeles to New York, she’s been in full summer-in-the-city mode. Date nights with her husband Cooke Maroney have called for The Row separates styled with Manolo sandals, and she has mastered daytime chic in breezy gingham Tory Burch dresses and HVN printed minis.

One J-Law outfit moment over the weekend caused us to double take. The actor styled her silk Maria shirt dress, made by her friend Harley Viera-Newton, with a pair of Melissa jelly shoes. The sea-safe sandals, crafted from bubblegum-scented vegan plastic, are inspired by the classic French fisherman’s sandal, and have been made popular in recent years by the likes of Alexa Chung, who enjoy the irony of making “dorky” footwear look cool.

Born in the late ’40s, the “méduse” (French for jellyfish) shoes were fashioned during a post-war leather shortage and then had a popularity boost during the plastic boom of the late ’50s. The colour-pop, heavily-synthetic fashion of the ’80s did them a favour, and the retro affordable shape is still championed by the likes of JuJu, Melissa and even Gucci today.

Other brands, including Bottega and Loewe, have entered the plastic fantastic shoe space this summer. The popularity of Crocs has meant colour-pop jellies are flying because of their alternative take on the ugly shoe trend. Lawrence’s transparent pair might be retro leaning, nodding to childhood summers on the beach, but she’s proved she’s got her finger on the fashion pulse. Indeed, also she wore a pink pair on maternity leave. This time around, a Prada shoulder bag, fashioned from the label’s sustainable Re-Nylon fabric, shows she’s keeping an eye on eco fashion too. All eyes are on Lawrence’s next fashion move.