Havaianas

Havaianas is a Brazilian brand of flip-flop sandals created by Scotsman Robert Fraser in 1962. It is currently owned by Brazilian manufacturing company Alpargatas. Inspired by Japanese zōri sandals, Fraser became the first to mass-produce flip-flops out of rubber.[1] The name Havaianas is derived from the feminine form of the Portuguese word for “Hawaiians”, and the pattern on the soles of the sandals is designed to resemble the straw soles of zōri. Originally, all Havaianas featured white insoles with colored outsoles and straps. Because of their simplicity and low price, the sandals became popular with Brazil’s lowest social classes.[2]

A fashion trend starting in the 1990s involved inverting the sole to make the coloured outsole face upwards, creating the appearance of a monochrome sandal. In response, Havaianas released a new line of eight one-colour sandals called Havaianas Top in 1994. Citizens of higher social classes then began to wear Havaianas.[3] In 1998, with the impending FIFA World Cup in France, Havaianas introduced a line of flip-flops featuring a small Brazilian flag on the strap to show support of the Brazilian team. [4] According to Havaianas’s Twitter account, the brand “embodies Brazil’s fun, vibrant & spontaneous way of life.”[5] Havaianas flip-flops are the most popular in the world, with 200 million pairs being sold every year.[6] They are often found in surf wear retail and surf apparel stores.In the 1960s, the flip-flop was a practical shoe worn by the working-class and was only made in a blue-and-white design. It became so associated with the poorer sector of society that it was listed as one of the fundamental goods by the Brazilian government, along with other household products. Traveling merchants sold them from the back of their vans. Variations in color and design are claimed to have all started serendipitously in 1969 when one batch of flip-flops came out to be green and suddenly gained popularityThe brand remains to be highly successful and worn vastly by customers internationally. However, Alpargatas, Havaianas’s manufacturing company, was previously owned by J&F Investments. Alleged discussions of bribery took place and has hurt J&F Investments economically. As of July 2017, Alpargatas is owned by three Brazilian banks