Stilettos vs. Subway Grates: Rihanna Wins, Again
Rihanna is a woman of many talents. She’s an award-winning musician, a fashion icon, a billionaire entrepreneur, and a mom to three little ones. But perhaps her most enviable talent? At least to those chronically online, it’s her ability to walk across subway grates in six-inch stilettos without missing a beat.
For the better part of a decade, the star has been confusing fans and fashionistas alike with her ability to skirt disaster—and a twisted ankle—when navigating New York City’s metal-grid minefields.
Fast-forward to the 2025 Gotham Film Awards on Monday night, and lightning struck again. Wearing a bubblegum‑pink, sculptural gown by Balenciaga, Rihanna was seen exiting Cipriani Wall Street in full X-Games mode. With just the hand of her partner A$AP Rocky for support, she balanced effortlessly across a metal grate in a pair of baby pink sandals—all while the paparazzi clicked away in awe.
The moment gained traction with fan accounts, who were once again losing their minds over the seemingly impossible feat. It’s important to note that Rihanna’s go-to footwear, such as the pair she wore Monday, aren’t your grandma’s kitten heels. Her favorite shoe designers, from Amina Muaddi to Gianvito Rossi, craft some of the most beautiful—but alarmingly vertigo-inducing—footwear on the market.
According to netizens, the key to a Rihanna subway grate walk is balancing on the front part of the foot, almost as if to walk on your tippy-toes. “There is an art to walking on grates gracefully the way Rihanna does: put your entire bodyweight on the balls of your feet so when you put your foot down, the heel is slightly elevated and avoids getting stuck,” a viral Reddit post explains.
Personally, as someone who lives in New York, grates are strictly off-limits—even in the flattest of flat shoes. (The idea of falling through the cracks in some sort of freak accident or getting “subway juice” on my favorite shoes keeps me up at night). So watching Rihanna strut across them like a casual stroll? It’s a type of fashion sorcery only she could conjure up.
