Qualley's black pair stood out against the more familiar language of red-carpet dressing precisely because there was so little of them. Rather than competing with the dress through colour or embellishment, the shoes drew attention through absence.
The accompanying dress took a different approach. Its dark palette kept the overall look restrained, while the fringe introduced movement and a looser, more bohemian quality.
Together, the pieces created a useful contradiction: a relatively classic black red-carpet outfit anchored by footwear that appears to question whether footwear needs to perform its most basic function.
Margaret Qualley and Chanel have a long-running fashion relationship
The appearance was hardly an unexpected brand pairing. Qualley has been a longtime ambassador for Chanel, making the fashion house a recurring presence throughout her public appearances.
That relationship also makes her an obvious candidate for a design likely to attract more scrutiny than a conventional pump or sandal. Experimental fashion tends to look slightly less accidental when the person wearing it already has an established connection to the house responsible for it.
Here, the shoes became the focal point without requiring the rest of the outfit to become equally theatrical. The fringe dress provided texture, but the styling left plenty of room for the sole-less design to do what it was presumably always going to do: start an argument about whether it counts as a shoe at all.
The look arrived alongside Qualley's new film The Dog Stars
The fashion moment came as Qualley attended the London world premiere of The Dog Stars, an adaptation of Peter Heller's hit 2012 novel of the same name.
The premiere therefore had two jobs: introduce the film to its first major audience and provide another high-profile red carpet for its cast. Qualley's Chanel look ensured that at least part of the conversation would happen several inches below the hemline.
Adaptations of well-known novels arrive with their own built-in attention, particularly from readers curious about how the original material will translate to the screen. Qualley's appearance added a separate fashion story to the film's rollout before audiences had the chance to judge the adaptation itself.
The controversial shoes have found their red-carpet moment
Whatever verdict people reach on Chanel's sole-less design, Qualley's choice demonstrated exactly why unusual runway pieces often make sense on a premiere carpet. A conventional shoe might have completed the outfit. This one became the story.
That does not necessarily make the design practical, nor does a red carpet offer much evidence for how it would fare during an ordinary day of walking. But practicality was never going to be the most interesting question here.
For Chanel, the appearance placed one of its most divisive-looking footwear ideas on a longtime ambassador at a major London premiere. For Qualley, it turned a black fringe dress into one of those deceptively simple looks people end up examining from the ankles down.
And for anyone still wondering whether a shoe actually needs a sole, Chanel has apparently decided the answer is negotiable.
