Coco Jones Extends Cutout Streak to Alaïa’s Perforated Patent Mules in Los Angeles

Coco Jones brought her preferred cutout motif to the red carpet — this time at floor level — at the Los Angeles screening of Apple Original Films and A24’s “Highest 2 Lowest” on Wednesday evening.

Her shoes, Alaïa’s Perfo patent leather mules, were cut in a high-gloss scarlet with two wide vamp straps punched in even circular perforations. The Italian-made slip-on silhouette sat on a square open toe and a sharply angled heel, its metal screws exposed at the base. The polished patent and structural heel gave the airy straps a precise frame.

The mules found a mirror in Jones’ dress: Cult Gaia’s Lilli mini in the same saturated red, carved with sculpted cutouts at the bodice and waist. The mirrored negative space linked the two pieces cleanly, keeping the palette tight and the detailing consistent from hemline to heel.

Cutouts have been a throughline in Jones’ wardrobe this year. In February, she chose a sandy body-con with waist cutouts for “The Jennifer Hudson Show” when she teased her then-upcoming single, “Taste”; at the 2025 Grammys, a custom Defaïence gown used gold clasps to punctuate its cutout bodice and slit. Even at the Met Gala in May, her Manish Malhotra look worked a shirtless coat moment into its embroidered layers.

Alaïa has long explored the technique in footwear, from Tyla’s strappy gladiators in Berlin to John Cena’s wife’s Shay Shariatzadeh’s heart-cutout Le Cœur mules in London. Founded by Azzedine Alaïa in Paris, the label has carried its precision leatherwork into a range of contemporary silhouettes, with perforations, transparent paneling and sculptural heels recurring across collections. For Jones, the pairing underscored how a single design code — in this case, the cutout — can connect her shoe game to her larger style narrative without losing its sharpness.