Jonathan Bailey brought The Row’s most controversial sandal Stateside this week. On Wednesday, the “Jurassic World: Rebirth” star was photographed in Los Angeles wearing the brand’s Dune flip-flops — the same $690 thong silhouette that sparked a red carpet uproar earlier this summer.
The actor paired the sandals with loose, paint-flecked jeans and a white graphic T-shirt, keeping the look casual with wire sunglasses and a red notebook tucked under his arm. The flip-flops themselves kept to The Row’s stripped-down formula: matte black straps, squared sole and a flat rubber footbed that owes more to the pool deck than the premiere circuit.
Jonathan Bailey wearing The Row’s Dune flip-flops, which retail for $690, out in Los Angeles on Wednesday.
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Bailey first set the tone for this conversation in June, when he appeared at the London photo call for “Jurassic World: Rebirth” in a full The Row look punctuated by the high-end flip-flops. At the time, the choice was a jolt to menswear’s red carpet script — a deliberate move away from Oxfords and loafers toward exposed toes and “quiet luxury” minimalism. That moment vaulted The Row’s flip-flops to the top of Lyst’s second-quarter hottest products list and made Bailey the face of the trend’s mainstream breakthrough.
A closer look at Jonathan Bailey’s Dune flip-flop sandals from The Row.
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Since then, the flip-flop has become a flashpoint in fashion. While women’s styling has long played with casual shoes in formal settings, men’s adoption of the form has been met with sharper division. Stars like Bradley Cooper and Chris Pine have leaned into the silhouette, while Dwyane Wade dismissed the style entirely, citing coverage and comfort.
The conversation has also widened…