It has been 15 years since Valentino Garavani introduced its Rockstud shoe collection, and the style is making waves again since starring in the first teaser trailer for “The Devil Wears Prada 2,” released on Wednesday.
The shoes were featured in the trailer as part of an orchestrated brand placement between 20th Century Studios and the fashion house. Quoc-Anh Truong Cornette, head of integrated marketing at Valentino, confirmed the arrangement on LinkedIn on Thursday.
“The teaser just dropped and is already going viral, hundreds of millions of views in only few hours, with Valentino at the heart of this cultural moment. Incredible strategic work behind the scenes Aleix Llimona [entertainment and brand partnerships manager at Valentino] and Mafalda Lavisci [branded entertainment and partnership coordinator at Valentino]!” Cornette wrote, sharing an FN article about the shoes’ appearance in the trailer.
While Miranda’s pair is currently only available on secondhand websites like eBay, Valentino is using the viral moment to relaunch one of the most popular shoes of the 2010s. On Friday, the brand’s social media pages began promoting the shoe designs and styles featuring its Rockstud motif, now available for purchase on the Valentino website. The brand teased the new releases with a short Instagram video clip.
The Rockstud shoes were released as part of the brand’s fall 2010 collection, originally as a line of shoes, created by co-creative directors Maria Grazia Chiuri and Pierpaolo Piccioli as the brand’s first footwear line.
The studs were said to be inspired by the “bugnatos” technique on Roman palazzo facades. The collection was a huge success and was later expanded to include accessories such as the Rockstud bag, which debuted in 2016.
The Rockstud heels have become a mainstay for the brand and one of its most recognizable designs. Sofia Vergara, Reese Witherspoon, Paris Hilton, Jennifer Lopez, Kim Kardashian, Nicki Minaj and more were just a few celebrity names who were fans of the Valentino Rockstud shoes in the 2010s.
Piccioli revisited the Rockstud series in 2020 to mark the 10th anniversary of the signature collection. He launched a special project under the Valentino Garavani Rockstud X moniker, with the X representing the Roman numeral for 10. Piccioli, who became Balenciaga’s creative director in 2025, called on designers, brands and artists to share their own interpretations of the Rockstuds as part of the project.
The designer delivered another iteration of the Rockstud with the cruise 2021 collection. It was named the Roman Stud, which was a supersized version of the original, and was featured on flat sandals and bags. The Roman Stud made its debut on the Valentino runway in Milan for spring 2021 in September 2020.
The current offerings include the classic pointed-toe caged T-strap pumps, block heel strappy sandals, kitten-heel pumps, handbags and more, in an arrange of colors and styles. The pumps retail for $1,190, the sandals retail for $1,150, while the crossbody bags range from $1,650 to $2,100, and are available in several colors and variations.
