Penélope Cruz’s Red Carpet Shoe Rules: 3 Looks, 3 Ways to Style Heels

From hidden platform pumps beneath Chanel Haute Couture to chunky black sandals with pink tweed and barely-there gold stilettos with Atelier Versace, Penélope Cruz has used heels in very different ways on the red carpet.

Three appearances—from the 2017 San Sebastián Film Festival to the 2022 Oscars season—show how her footwear can quietly support a dramatic gown, provide contrast beneath a mini, or nearly disappear into a head-to-toe metallic look.

2022 Oscars: Penélope Cruz Pairs Chanel Couture With Satin Platform Pumps

Cruz wore a custom black Chanel taffeta gown inspired by the fashion house’s Fall 2020 Haute Couture collection.

The halter-neck design combined a keyhole cutout and structured basque waist with a metallic tweed bow at the neckline. Rather than a separate scarf or necktie, the bow was incorporated into the dress and echoed the detailed embroidery across the bodice.

Chanel said the gown incorporated approximately 8,000 embroidered elements and required more than 680 hours of work. Despite its formal ballgown silhouette, it also included pockets, which Cruz used while posing on the red carpet.

Penélope Cruz’s custom Chanel Haute Couture gown featured intricate embroidery, a keyhole neckline, and a metallic tweed bow (Credit: Abby Grant / Cover Images / INSTARim)

Why Chanel Platform Pumps Work Beneath Cruz’s Couture Ballgown

The skirt’s volume made Cruz’s footwear easy to miss, but she completed the look with black Chanel satin platform pumps. The shoes featured a rounded toe and a gold double-C detail on the heel, adding a subtle house signature without competing with the elaborate gown.

She also carried a Chanel bag and wore Chanel High Jewelry, including Pluie de Comètes diamond earrings in 18-karat white gold.

Her beauty look was similarly restrained, with bronze-toned eye makeup, a glossy nude lip, and softly curled hair in a deep side part, tucked behind one ear.

The metallic tweed bow, keyhole cutout, and fitted basque waist brought structure to Penélope Cruz’s black Chanel gown (Credit: Abby Grant / Cover Images / INSTARim)

Bardem complemented her look in a midnight-navy ZEGNA silk-wool tuxedo with black satin lapels and a black bow tie.

Both actors were nominees that evening: Bardem was nominated for Best Actor for Being the Ricardos, while Cruz received a Best Actress nomination for Parallel Mothers.

Penélope Cruz holds hands with her husband Javier Bardem at the 94th Annual Academy Awards at Hollywood and Highland on March 27, 2022, in Hollywood, California (Credit: Abby Grant / Cover Images / INSTARim)

A few weeks before the Oscars ceremony, Cruz had already leaned into her Chanel partnership for a very different appearance. Instead of black evening couture, she chose bright pink tweed and platform sandals for the annual gathering of Academy Award nominees.

2022 Oscars Nominees Luncheon: Pink Chanel Tweed Meets Black Platform Sandals

At the 94th Oscars Nominees Luncheon at the Fairmont Century Plaza in Los Angeles on March 7, 2022, Cruz wore a watermelon-pink tweed minidress from Chanel’s Spring/Summer 2022 Ready-to-Wear collection.

The sleeveless mini featured a structured neckline, patch pockets, and a row of jeweled buttons down the front. Its vivid color and abbreviated hem made it a much lighter daytime counterpart to the dramatic black Chanel Haute Couture gown she would wear to the Academy Awards three weeks later.

Penélope Cruz pairs a pink Chanel tweed minidress with black platform sandals at the 94th Oscars Nominees Luncheon at the Fairmont Century Plaza on March 7, 2022, in Los Angeles (Credit: Phil McCarten / ©A.M.P.A.S.)

Why Cruz’s Chunky Chanel Platforms Work With Pink Tweed

Cruz contrasted the bright pink tweed with black Chanel open-toe platform sandals, giving the short, structured dress a heavier base than a delicate evening sandal would have provided. The black footwear also echoed her quilted Chanel micro bag, creating two dark accents against the otherwise vivid pink look.

Up close, the sandals reveal a substantial platform beneath the forefoot, high block heels, wide toe straps, and slim buckled ankle straps. That platform adds considerable overall height while reducing the effective foot pitch compared with a single-sole heel of the same total height—a practical piece of shoe engineering behind an otherwise dramatic silhouette.

A closer look at Penélope Cruz’s black Chanel open-toe platform sandals, featuring slim ankle straps, high block heels, wide toe straps, and substantial platform soles (Credit: Phil McCarten / ©A.M.P.A.S.)

Cruz’s pair also fits into a longer Chanel history of substantial platform footwear. Kristen Stewart has also stepped out in chunky black Chanel platform sandals, showing how the house has repeatedly used height, ankle straps, and visual weight to offset shorter hemlines.

Chanel has since explored almost the exact opposite idea. Under Matthieu Blazy, the house stripped the sandal back so dramatically that Margaret Qualley’s controversial Chanel heel-cap shoes appeared almost barefoot, dispensing with the conventional sole and toe coverage. Seen against that later experiment, Cruz’s 2022 platforms sit at the maximalist end of Chanel’s sandal vocabulary: thick soles, broad toe straps, high heels, and very little attempt to make the footwear disappear.

She stayed with Chanel for the rest of the look, carrying a small quilted black leather flap bag on a gold chain and adding understated diamond earrings. Her shoulder-length hair was worn loose with a center part, while bronzed eyes and a soft nude-pink lip suited the daytime event.

Taken together, Cruz’s two Chanel appearances during the 2022 Oscars season show how differently footwear can function within the same designer relationship. At the nominees luncheon, the mini’s short hem exposed the entire platform sandal, making its weight and black-on-pink contrast part of the outfit. Three weeks later, her black satin Chanel pumps played a quieter structural role beneath the embroidered Haute Couture ballgown, where they were largely hidden.

That makes her earlier Atelier Versace look an even sharper contrast. Five years before her Chanel-heavy Oscars season, Cruz stepped onto the San Sebastián red carpet in slender custom stilettos that shed the visual weight of a platform and blended almost seamlessly into her champagne-gold gown.

2017 San Sebastián: Penélope Cruz Matches Atelier Versace With Gold Stilettos

On September 30, 2017, Cruz attended the Loving Pablo premiere during the 65th San Sebastián International Film Festival in San Sebastián, Spain. The appearance followed a busy period that included Zoolander 2, The Brothers Grimsby, and The Queen of Spain.

Penélope Cruz attends the premiere of “Loving Pablo” during the 65th San Sebastián International Film Festival in San Sebastián, Spain, on September 30, 2017 (Credit: WENN)

Her Atelier Versace gown took the opposite approach from the black Chanel ballgown she would later wear to the Oscars. The champagne-gold design featured an asymmetrical one-shoulder neckline, a single bell sleeve, and a thigh-high side slit.

A metallic, chainmail-like surface and crystal bugle beadwork gave the fitted dress its reflective finish while emphasizing its sharply constructed silhouette.

Penélope Cruz wore a one-shoulder metallic Atelier Versace gown with crystal detailing and a thigh-high slit (Credit: Sean Thornton / Clemens Niehaus / Future Image / WENN)

Why Cruz’s Custom Versace Stilettos Almost Disappear Into Her Gown

Rather than breaking up the metallic palette with contrasting footwear, Cruz wore custom Atelier Versace satin sandals made to coordinate with the champagne-gold color of her dress.

Penélope Cruz’s custom Atelier Versace sandals matched the champagne-gold tone of her gown (Credit: WENN)

The sandals featured delicate ankle straps and slim stiletto heels, keeping the embellished dress as the focal point while extending its metallic color all the way to the floor. Importantly, these were custom sandals, not the similarly styled commercial Versace chain-detail sandals sold at the time.

Cruz kept her jewelry comparatively restrained, adding diamond drop earrings and rings from Damas Jewellery.

Penélope Cruz accessorized her metallic Atelier Versace gown with a ring from Damas Jewellery (Credit: WENN)

Her hairstyle also changed the mood of the look. Cruz wore a high ponytail with short, piecey bangs rather than the long layers and softly waved styles she has often favored for red-carpet appearances.

Penélope Cruz’s high ponytail and short bangs gave her metallic Versace look a sharper finish (Credit: WENN)

Diamond earrings from Damas Jewellery complemented the crystal embellishment of Penélope Cruz’s Atelier Versace gown (Credit: WENN)

Chanel vs. Versace: Three Ways Penélope Cruz Uses Heels to Shape a Look

Across these three appearances, Cruz uses footwear in noticeably different ways. At the Oscars, her black Chanel satin platform pumps were largely concealed beneath a sweeping couture ballgown. At the nominees luncheon, black open-toe platform sandals provided a sharp contrast to her bright pink Chanel tweed mini. And in San Sebastián, custom Atelier Versace stilettos matched her champagne-gold gown almost exactly, extending the metallic palette all the way to the floor.

The looks also reflect two of the most enduring designer relationships in Cruz’s red-carpet wardrobe: her association with Chanel, including her role as a house ambassador, and her many appearances in Atelier Versace. Yet the shoes rarely feel interchangeable—from substantial platforms to delicate ankle-strap stilettos, Cruz adjusts the footwear to the proportions and mood of each outfit.

At the Loving Pablo premiere, Cruz was joined by her husband, Javier Bardem, who played Pablo Escobar opposite her portrayal of Colombian journalist Virginia Vallejo. Beyond these appearances, her fashion history offers even more contrasts, including barely-there sandals, metallic evening heels, classic pumps, and unexpectedly chunky platform boots.