The Havaianas sandals were created in 1962 by Alpargatas, a renowned and traditional Brazilian company of footwear and apparel. Inspired by the Japanese rice straw sandals, Zori, Havaianas used rubber as the main raw material and the result was an extremely comfortable, light weighted and durable sandal. The Success was instantaneous – in less than a year, one thousand pairs were sold out per day in Brazil. Nowadays, consumers worldwide raised this number to more than 500 thousand pairs per day.

The key turnaround took place in the 90s when the brand innovation expanded product assortment from one single style to more than 70. The sandals started to appeal to the international market, from the fashion catwalks to the feet of celebrities, becoming the most successful product mad in Brazil worldwide. Each new collection features new concept, design, shapes, colours, prints and ornaments, inspired by the latest fashion trends. The brand keeps inventing and innovating but always following Havaianas’ essence of simplicity and authenticity.

Photography: Zsolt Istvan Posta
Images courtesy of RetailDesignBlog