The History Behind Valentino’s Iconic Rockstud Shoes

Valentino‘s famous Rockstud design has officially returned to the spotlight. After an archival pair made an appearance in the teaser trailer for the much-anticipated movie “The Devil Wears Prada 2” in November, creative director Alessandro Michele recently updated the motif first introduced by previous creative directors Pierpaolo Piccioli and Maria Grazia Chiuri in the brand’s fall 2010 collection.

Michele put his own spin on the pyramid-shaped studs, which pay tribute to architecture found in the label’s home base city of Rome, where the “bugnato” design technique is applied to Roman buildings and palazzi.

Sandra Salibian reviewed Michele’s pre-fall 2026 collection for WWD and quoted the designer’s remarks on reviving the signature design. Michele, who presented his first collection for the fashion house last year, made it clear that he did not want to immediately take on the iconic Rockstud after arriving at the label.

“I didn’t want to do this the day after I arrived here, because I found it weird and I didn’t know this territory so well,” Michele said, who continually questions “my idea of what’s Valentino, what I do and what I can also keep from what’s been done by my predecessors.”

“So I looked at this theme which is so interesting and represented a pillar for many years, a great invention,” Michele said, speaking of the link to Rome and the studs which appear on the doors of buildings.

In his pre-fall 2026 collection, the designer presented the edgy adornment on a strappy caged pump featuring a narrow square toe with a gold metal tip. Additional styles include a strappy heeled sandal embellished with Rockstuds of various sizes, and a thong sandal bearing the motif — getting in on a major silhouette trend of 2025.

Appearing on a slew of shoe styles and more accessory items through the years, the Rockstud has had quite the journey since its debut, becoming a cornerstone design of the Italian luxury brand. The brand went bigger and bolder with the Roman Stud, a larger version of the embellishment introduced in the resort 2021 collection and presented in the spring 2021 collection as well. Later, studs big and small were used to decorate gladiator-style sandals in the spring 2022 collection.

In 2020, Piccioli celebrated the 10th anniversary of the Rockstud with a project named Valentino Garavani Rockstud X, which called on international designers, brands and artists to offer their own versions of the stud. A collaboration with British designer Craig Green launched the project. The Rockstud has even made its way into the world of pet accessories, as a Valentino Garavani Rockstud Pet line came out in October 2020, with products including bags which could be customized with an animal portrait by artist Riccardo Cusimano.

Not just seen on runways, celebrities ranging from Jennifer Lopez to Vanessa Hudgens have given their stamp of approval to the enduring Rockstud.

And now in 2025, the Rockstud remains an important part of Valentino’s design story. Renewed interest in the look came when “The Devil Wears Prada 2” teaser trailer dropped, featuring Meryl Streep’s Miranda Priestly walking through the Runway office wearing an archival red Rockstud pump. The prominent moment was coordinated by 20th Century Studios and Valentino, as confirmed by Quoc-Anh Truong Cornette, head of integrated marketing at Valentino, on LinkedIn.

Not long after the trailer dropped, Valentino began posting about Rockstud styles available to shop, including the Studdy option, and then Michele’s own takes on the signature were revealed in December. The house would appear to be banking on the enduring relevance of those Roman architecture-inspired studs.