Maggie Gyllenhaal Swaps Flats for Pointed-Toe Prada Kitten Heels at Venice Closing Ceremony

Maggie Gyllenhaal embraced an avant-garde, darkly romantic look in Prada as she helped close the 83rd Venice International Film Festival over the weekend.

She wore a lot of black throughout the festival, so I thought the pop of pale blue in her final look was a refreshing change. She kept the regal feel she brought to several of her Venice appearances, with minimalist pumps, sparkling Bulgari jewelry, and sleek styling giving the look an elegant, royal touch.

It was also a fitting bookend to Gyllenhaal’s festival wardrobe. Earlier in Venice, the 5’9” (175.3 cm) jury president had taken a much more understated approach in Celine lace-up flats, a navy column gown, and Bulgari Serpenti jewelry. For the closing ceremony, she returned to Bulgari but traded those flats for sleek Prada slingbacks.

Maggie Gyllenhaal wears head-to-toe Prada at the 83rd Venice International Film Festival closing ceremony at Sala Grande on September 12, 2026 (Credit: Alberto Terenghi / IPA / INSTARimages)

Maggie Gyllenhaal Keeps It Sleek in Prada Black Slingback Kitten Heels

For footwear, Gyllenhaal wore Prada slingback pumps in black brushed leather. At 5’9”, she hardly needs towering heels for extra height, and the low kitten heels worked particularly well beneath the floor-length column dress, adding lift without competing with its dramatic sleeves.

It’s a much more restrained approach than some of Gyllenhaal’s earlier pointed-toe footwear. She has previously sharpened a white Derek Lam dress with red Valentino Rubin pumps with pointed toes and 4-inch heels, while this Prada pair keeps the same elongated toe shape but brings the heel dramatically closer to the ground.

The pumps featured pointed toes with a screen-printed Prada logo on the vamp instead of the padded triangle logo that appears on many of the house’s shoes. A slim slingback strap wrapped around the heel and fastened with a tiny buckle, keeping the design polished and minimal.

They sit on 2.16-inch kitten heels and finish with rubber soles bearing a hot-stamped Prada logo. The combination of pointed toe, exposed heel, and modest lift is also part of a longer Prada footwear tradition; our look at Prada’s bow-embellished slingback pumps shows how the Italian fashion house has repeatedly reworked the pointed slingback kitten heel in different finishes and decorative treatments.

Maggie Gyllenhaal’s black brushed-leather Prada slingback pumps feature pointed toes, screen-printed logos, slim slingback straps, and low kitten heels (Credit: Alberto Terenghi / IPA / INSTARimages)

The silhouette was particularly relevant in Venice this year. Laura Dern also wore black Prada slingback pumps during the festival, pairing her patent-leather pair with a bubblegum-pink Prada midi dress.

You can get Gyllenhaal’s Prada slingbacks for $1,270 at Mytheresa. For more options, Prada’s pumps and ballerinas collection includes leather, suede, mesh, and fabric slingback pumps, along with pointed-toe pumps, D’Orsay styles, and ballerinas.

A closer look at the black Prada pointed-toe slingback pumps Maggie Gyllenhaal wore with her crystal-embellished Prada gown at the 2026 Venice Film Festival closing ceremony

Pale Blue Crystal Sleeves Transform Maggie Gyllenhaal’s Black Prada Gown

Gyllenhaal stayed true to her love of unconventional designs, pairing her minimalist pumps with a black Prada dress that mixed high-fashion surrealism with tailored structure.

The dress featured a sleek, floor-length black column silhouette crafted from heavy silk gabardine. Its fitted bodice had a halter-style neckline with a bow at the back of the neck, while strategically placed seams shaped Gyllenhaal’s figure and defined her waist.

From there, the skirt fell straight to the floor, creating a long, streamlined silhouette that covered her shoes for most of the time. A vent at the back opened slightly as she walked, offering glimpses of the black slingbacks underneath.

It’s a footwear formula Gyllenhaal has used before. She previously grounded an all-black The Row gown with Paul Andrew Zenadia pumps, another example of how she uses streamlined pumps beneath long black eveningwear rather than making the shoes compete with the dress.

What really made this Prada look stand out, though, were the contrasting pale blue poplin puff sleeves. Their dramatically oversized shape added volume around her shoulders, breaking up the severity of the black column silhouette.

Intricate crystal beadwork combined icy teardrop crystals with smaller silver beads throughout the sleeves, and I loved how the pale blue fabric and sparkling embellishments created an almost frosted, sculptural effect. Against the otherwise severe black dress, the sleeves became the clear focal point.

Maggie Gyllenhaal contrasts sleek black Prada slingbacks and a floor-length silk gabardine column gown with oversized pale blue puff sleeves covered in icy crystal drops and silver beadwork (Credit: Pietrangelo Buffafuoco Alberto B / IPA / INSTARimages)

Bulgari Serpenti Diamonds Give the Dark Prada Look a Regal Finish

Gyllenhaal went all out with her accessories, wearing a multi-layered diamond Bulgari Serpenti High Jewelry choker that added a major dose of sparkle around her neck. She paired it with Roman Wonders High Jewelry diamond earrings and a matching ring, reinforcing the regal quality.

The Serpenti choice also created continuity with her Venice wardrobe. Rather than treating each red-carpet appearance as a completely separate fashion moment, Gyllenhaal repeatedly returned to Bulgari jewelry while changing the mood through her clothes and footwear—from navy Celine and lace-up flats earlier in the festival to this far more theatrical Prada combination for closing night.

She kept her hair sleek with a slicked-back side part and inward-curled ends, leaving the dramatic neckline and diamond earrings fully visible. A deep berry lipstick completed her beauty look, adding a gothic touch that worked beautifully against the black gown while echoing the darkly romantic mood of her final Venice appearance.

Maggie Gyllenhaal brings a regal finish to her Prada look with a multi-layered Bulgari Serpenti High Jewelry diamond choker, Roman Wonders earrings, slicked-back hair, and deep berry lipstick (Credit: Alberto Terenghi / IPA / INSTARimages)

From Kitten Heels to Platforms: Venice 2026 Delivered a Standout Season for Shoes

Gyllenhaal’s understated Prada slingbacks were a fitting counterpoint to the drama of her crystal-covered sleeves, but they were just one chapter in an unusually varied footwear story at Venice. Across the festival, stars moved between barely-there sandals, ballet flats, sculptural slingbacks, towering platforms, and experimental boots—proving there was no single formula for dressing the red carpet.