The Havaiana sandal was born in 1962 in deepest darkest Brazil and offers funky practical beach footwear with cool Copacabana style.
It didn’t take long for them to become one of the most popular choices of flip-flop sandal for the home market. Such was the high reputation that may cheap imitations tried to cash in on the popularity. The “Havaianas – The Real Ones “ campaign was launched to assure customers that the real deal would not start to smell and fall apart after a couple of weeks use and to beware cheap imitations. Havaianas drew their inspiration from Japanese designs, and the rice straw soles of the Far Eastern sandals. Each pair of Havaianas features a rice pattern in the soles harking back to their inspiration, although the high quality EVA footbed is what gives them their smell-proofing and robustness.
In the 1990s the range experienced an explosion in diversity with over 20 new colour choices added to the range and an even wider range of patterns. Havaianas became one of the most popular sandal brands on the market. They truly became an international brand a few short years ago when they started exporting to the States Europe.
A 2006 innovation saw the birth of the Havaiana slip; a flip-flop with an ultra thin thong. One can only imagine why it took them so long to come up with the inspiration for that, however further comfort ensued.
Around 20 styles each for the Men and kid’s include some of the funkiest, brightly coloured Brazilian styles and cool patterns for feet large and small. However it is the women’s range which is legendary in its diversity, offering over 60 different styles for any occasion. The Havaiana can be copied, but there are few that can beat the range, style and comfort offered.
So the men and the kids are well catered to, and North American and European women can now benefit from a full Brazilian treatment without the pain. At a shade under £20 a pair Brazilian style also need not break the bank