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Why The Row’s men’s flip flops are this summer’s quiet hit

The Row elevates the flip-flop and becomes the 'it' shoe of the summer

By Leslie Leon Published August 3, 2025

close up on the row sandal — Mr. Porter / Mr. Porter

While considered a summer must-have and a beach necessity, the flip-flop is unexpectedly a divisive shoe. Even though heading to the beach without them is regarded as a faux pas to many, the flip-flop hasn’t quite earned its spot in other casual settings. With plenty of summer options available, the flip-flop is still categorized as too casual footwear to don anywhere but on vacation. However, it seems as if the tide is beginning to change, and leading the charge is none other than the luxury brand The Row. From their Spring 2021 collection that debuted leather thong flip flops, The Row has quietly introduced the flip-flop into a sophisticated footwear category that can efficiently function for form and fashion. However, the summer 2025 season became the tipping point with the prominence of the brand’s Dune Sandal.

The Row’s Dune Sandal is this season’s flip-flop

While the Dune Sandal from The Row seems on the outside like your typical flip-flop design, it’s caught the attention of celebrities all over the world. Most recently, the flip-flop became the topic of discussion when actor Jonathan Bailey donned the pair during the London photocall for his film “Jurassic World Rebirth.” For many style watchers, the event was no place for flip-flops, while others praised the laid-back and casual look. The Dune Sandals have also been captured on celebrities and influencers on many occasions since then. The sandals are composed of grosgrain straps and bouncy rubber soles, making them far from your everyday flip-flops with no support. Priced at $865 and available via retailers like Mr. Porter, the Dune Sandals are the elevated flip-flop ready to take over the summer season. Distinguished by its sophisticated design and aesthetic, the Dune Sandal has officially brought the humble flip-flop into the fashion spotlight.

Leslie is a Los Angeles-based writer and content creator. After attaining a bachelor's degree in journalism from California…

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Footwear

Fashion & Style

Breitling’s new Top Time is a wearable tribute to the Aston Martin DB5

The new watches rep the iconic Bond car right down to subdials shaped like its dashboard gauges.

Car, Watch, Man

Breitling just released a trio of heaters: the Top Time B01 Chronograph 41 Tribute to Aston Martin DB5, a three-edition collaboration with the British carmaker. The connection between the Swiss watchmaker and the British car company runs back to 1965, when a Top Time ref. 2002 appeared on Sean Connery's wrist in Thunderball, worn alongside the DB5 — the first Q-modified watch in the Bond series. It's a nice bit of trivia that the DB5 and that Top Time shared the screen in the same film, and both went on to outlive the movie by decades.

The car cues go deeper than the "squircle" gauge-shaped subdials: a wooden inner ring nods to the DB5's steering wheel, and each edition rides on a hand-colored gradient calfskin strap meant to read like automotive upholstery. All three run on Breitling's in-house Manufacture Caliber 01, a COSC-certified automatic chronograph with a 70-hour power reserve, visible through a sapphire caseback and finished with an Aston Martin-engraved rotor. The case measures 41mm. The editions are divvied up by material and rarity. Stainless steel with a silver dial is limited to 1,022 pieces and sticks closest to the original ref. 2002, while steel with a platinum bezel and black lacquered dial drops to 315 pieces.

Fashion & Style

Look to the sky for these space themed watches

These 5 space themed watches will have you seeing stars

Accessories, Strap, Wristwatch

It was the 1960s. We were in the middle of a Cold War with Russia, and instead of escalating to an actual war with bullets and bombs, we took the conflict to the sky. We created a war of economics, science, and morale in a race to the sky to be the first nation to reach the moon. While the race picked up throughout the decade, it came down to the wire before the USA won the race by landing on the moon (if you believe that sort of thing and don't believe Stanley Kubrick directed the greatest ruse of all time). In any case, no race can be run without a good timekeeper. And watches were a must-have for all involved. Ever since, chronophiles like me have been obsessed with space-themed watches and, in particular, moon mission watches.

That is why I happened to have this list in my head. Five watches that bring the space race and the great beyond to the forefront of thinking to build a collection that is out of this world.

Fashion & Style

Legendary designer has a project coming up you may not know about

Legendary designer, Tom Ford, is writing and directing a film adapting the Anne Rice novel, Cry to Heaven

Accessories, Formal Wear, Tie

Tom Ford is a name that every fashionisto knows well. He is the top of the top when you talk about famous suit makers. He began his career changing the landscape of multiple brands, including Gucci and Yves Saint Laurent, before launching his own self-named brand of his own in 2005. The brand has remained a mainstay in the industry for the last 20 years, including the acquisition of Estée Lauder in 2022 for an estimated $2.8 billion. For the movie buffs in the room, you also likely know about Tom Ford because he became the exclusive tailor and suitmaker for Daniel Craig's James Bond for Quantum of Solace in 2008. He carried that gig all the way through the series and defined men's style for two decades.

Now, for the real cinephiles in the room, you may also know that Tom Ford himself is a movie buff and entered the industry as a writer and a director in 2009 by directing A Single Man with Colin Firth and Julianne Moore. Then again in 2016 with Nocturnal Animals with Amy Adams, Jake Gyllenhaal, and Michael Shannon. Of course, the wardrobe was stellar in both, and we will get a chance to see his talents onscreen again this fall with a new Anne Rice adaptation, Cry to Heaven.