It’s Official: Jelly Kitten Heels Are The Nostalgic Hero Piece Of Summer 2026

Have you ever been haunted by a shoe? Not in, like, a spooky way, but in a lost-love, the-one-that-got-away type of yearning. Personally, I’ve been tormented by jelly kitten heels for five years now – and it’s all thanks to Melissa x Y/Project collab that birthed the sci-fi Cinderella slippers of dreams. They were weird. They were beautiful. They were sold out. There’s been a jelly kitten heel-shaped hole in my wardrobe ever since.

This might sound melodramatic, but I’m 99 per cent sure that every other fashion-y and fashion-adjacent person has spent the past few years in a jelly-chokehold too. The proof: shiny, plastic-y shoes are now everywhere – no longer a niche, one-off statement but the standout hero piece of summer 2026. I’ve seen them on runways and on the tube; in TikTok videos and in my dreams. It’s like the ‘90s all over again, only this time the jelly fever is elevated and a little edgier. Chloé’s ruched TPU mules, for example, look like life-sized Barbie shoes, a trick of the eye that’s simultaneously understated and kind of freaky. Melissa’s latest collab with Ganni comes in ice-lolly shades of strawberry and blue raspberry, with ruffled straps that deliver the optimum dose of kitsch.

It makes sense that jelly shoes have reached their sartorial peak during a time where everyone’s longing for more whimsy in their lives. As we search for ways to re-inject childlike wonder into the everyday, there’s perhaps no better quick fix than wearing grown-up versions of the clothes we wore as a kid. In the ‘80s and ’90s, you’d have been hard pressed to find a child that didn’t own a pair of jelly sandals – mine were pink and glittery, most often paired with my beloved Spice Girls T-shirt. Now, thanks to the kitten heel revolution, I can step out in basically the same outfit and fit right in with the It Girls. See: Iris Law in those Chloé Barbie shoes and a floral bodysuit, or Tessa Thompson, who paired her jellies with a silk slip skirt and a white tank top.