Lily James slipped into one of Prada’s most polarizing designs while arriving at Good Morning America in New York’s Hudson Square on Friday.
Her pumps came in chalk-white antiqued leather, cut into a sharply pointed silhouette with raw-cut seams and visible topstitching. A narrow kitten heel lifted the pair, finished with small bows knotted at the vamp. The style, priced at $1,450, was released this summer and quickly drew attention for its resemblance to the Punjabi jutti, a centuries-old North Indian slip-on.
Lily James seen at “Good Morning America” in Hudson Square on Friday in New York City, wearing the brand’s chalk-white antique leather pumps.
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The comparison followed closely on the heels of Prada’s Kolhapuri sandal controversy in July, when Indian fashion watchers flagged the luxury house for repackaging traditional footwear forms. In response, the brand pointed to archival inspirations and added acknowledgments of Indian artisanship to its campaign language. Prada noted that the raw-cut seam used here had been pulled from an archival décolleté design first seen in its spring 2007 collection, framing the pumps as part of a longer lineage of experimental construction rather than a one-off borrowing.
A closer look at James’ distressed leather kitten heels by Prada.
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James styled the Prada pumps with a matching brown mini and belted leather jacket, carrying the brand’s Galleria mini bag in white and finishing the look with narrow sunglasses. The leather jacket itself came from Prada’s fall lineup, a supple nappa style with an attached scarf detail that James opted to knot at her waist rather than drape.
Prada Chalk-White Antique Leather Pumps, $1,450.
Prada
The Prada appearance comes after James stepped out in Jimmy Choo’s Scarlett 95 pumps earlier this week, a corset-laced silhouette tied to the brand’s fall campaign fronted by Sydney Sweeney. James has consistently favored directional footwear in New York this week, swapping between the British and Italian houses with an eye on detail-heavy designs. Her choices — Choo’s corset lacing one day, Prada’s raw seams the next — show a deliberate move toward shoes that emphasize construction.
Her run of shoe moments coincides with the press push for “Swiped,” the Hulu biopic where she portrays Bumble founder Whitney Wolfe Herd. The film, which traces Wolfe Herd’s departure from Tinder and the launch of Bumble, premiered at TIFF earlier this month and began streaming Sept. 19.