In 2023, this magazine crowned ballet flats as the top street-style shoe. By 2024, they became a seasonal essential, and less than three weeks into 2025, they were officially declared an “It-shoe.” It makes sense—these flats had already taken over sidewalks and runways long before TikTok’s ballet-core trend. Now, if you’re under 16, things have taken a weird turn with the rise of “Ballerina Cappuccina.”

Over the past two weeks, articles with headlines like “What Is Ballerina Cappuccina—And Why Does My Child Keep Saying It?” have flooded the internet. This early Gen Alpha slang refers to a bizarre meme featuring an AI-generated ballerina with a cappuccino cup for a head, spinning to a nonsensical Italian voiceover: “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 whatever—Ballerina Cappuccina is, she’s already an icon. Kids have even started using her name as a compliment.

Two people who perfectly embody the free-spirited Ballerina Cappuccina aesthetic are Kendall Jenner and Gigi Hadid. The duo was recently spotted post-Met Gala, each putting their own spin on the ballet-core trend: Gigi in camo pants and olive-green Miu Miu flats, paired with a bubblegum-pink Chanel bag, while Kendall wore an ecru vest, straight-leg jeans, and The Row’s Eva ballerinas with an Olsen-made Hobo bag. The whole scene could’ve been a Sex and the City still—because let’s be honest, before Ballerina Cappuccina was twirling to gibberish, Carrie Bradshaw was rambling in a tutu.

Shop ballet flats below:

– Madewell – The Greta ballet flat ($98)
– Miu Miu – Leather ballet flats ($1,050 at Nordstrom & Bergdorf Goodman)
– The Row – Awar leather bow ballerina flats ($1,200 at Bergdorf Goodman & 24S)
– Alex Mill x Porselli – Ballet flats ($195)
– COS – Leather ballerina flats ($150)
– Le Monde Beryl – Stella Mary Jane slippers ($570 at Bergdorf Goodman)
– Mansur Gavriel – Dream ballerina flats ($395 at Shopbop)
– Proenza Schouler – Glove Mary Jane ballet flats ($690 at Saks Fifth Avenue)