Alix Earle leaned into one of Coachella 2026’s clearest shoe trends on Friday, wearing black knee-high leather boots to YouTube’s Backstage Studio during weekend one at Empire Polo Club in Indio, Calif.
The influencer wore Bared Footwear’s Hillstar boots in black leather, a $509 style with a 45 mm heel, silver hardware and a removable harness detail. The pair read heavy and streamlined at once: a tall smooth shaft, rounded toe, low stacked base and compact lug sole, with the harness sitting low at the ankle. The shape avoided a sharp western point or a slouchy shaft and instead stayed closer to a cleaned-up moto line.
That choice made sense with the rest of the look. Earle wore the Bared boots under a Roberto Cavalli strapless bustier cut in patchworked floral silk with an animal-print section at one side, plus dark cut-off denim shorts with a frayed hem. A Hammitt Kyle Sml bag, an Yves Saint Laurent Rive Gauche gilt-metal necklace and a Chanel 1997 CC-logo mesh choker kept the upper half loaded up, which left the boots to do something more specific below: hold a clean, heavy line. The shaft rose just under the knee and stayed straight against the bare leg, steering the shorts away from the usual festival sandal or cowboy-boot read.
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That lane has widened this year anyway. Footwear News flagged cowboy, moto and skate-adjacent styles among the key shoe stories heading into Coachella 2026, with combat boots also returning in the broader festival conversation. Some styles from 2016 have also made a comeback, like gladiator sandals.
For Earle, the boots also marked a useful contrast with the glossy, founder-facing image she has been building around Reale Actives, the acne skin care line she launched on March 31 with backing from Imaginary Ventures.
Coachella 2026 opened Friday at Empire Polo Club in Indio, with weekend one running April 10 to 12 before the festival returns April 17 to 19. The first day’s lineup included Sabrina Carpenter, Disclosure, Blood Orange, Moby and Central Cee, while Justin Bieber and Karol G headlined the festival’s remaining weekend one nights.
