an Image Analysis.
This is an amateur picture of a flip flop with beads. The shoes are centred over what seems to be a table covered with kitsch a plastic lace sheet, which is quite common to be found in medium-low-income Brazilian houses, mimicking actual cotton sheets that are traditional yet costly. Over these statements, it is a product that might be attractive to medium to low-income clients. They also belong to havaianas, a Brazilian brand designed and used over decades — selling informal sandals that are welcome to be used in laidback situations.
The bright colours reveal not only the traditional simplicity of this shoe but also an attention to style. The products are not originally sold with beads all over its straps, so it was customized by hand to achieve the intended ‘maxi’ aesthetic. Customizations are known to be a way of adding style and personality to a piece, and in this case might represent an attempt to embellish and create value to a shoe that is known and intended to be good, durable and cheap — attending, by the time it was released, especially lower socioeconomical classes. Plastic and rubber are cheap materials that can be found with no innovation in mostly any sort of industrial background.
Although havaianas never changed their successful formula, this same design has travelled over all Brazilian classes and exemplifies what could be classified as an ‘horizontal’ product (slogan: Havaianas. Todo mundo usa — Havaianas. Everybody wears). Their sandals currently have a wide range of prices, and so for styling or decorated pieces. Swarovski crystals or silver and gold pins can be found or applied at their stores, extending their prices for over two hundred reais (4x the handmade pair price). Their demand was born from popular to elitist extracts, and the plastic beaded ones are an example of how fashion and beauty senses can clearly separate from class — even with such democratic brand. The illustrated sandal was even more popular over 2000–2010, before their products had in-store customizing options.
Bibliography
Ribeiro, M. S. (2013), Toward a biography of things: the social life of the Havaianas and the invention of Brazilianness. Etnográfica. Vol no 17 (2) pp. 341–367 [Online] viewed 22 April 2021 <Por uma biografia das coisas: a vida social da marca Havaianas e a invenção da brasilidade (openedition.org)>
Pinent, L. S. (2013) O chinelo que mudou de classe: a trajetória da Havaianas em perspectiva antropológica. BA thesis, Federal University of Rio Grande do Sul, Porto Alegre. Viewed on 22 April 2021 <Microsoft Word — TCC-Livia Pinent.docx (ufrgs.br)>
Belloni, L. (2015), The Havaianas formula to leave the world at your feet, Huffpost Brasil [Online] viewed 23 April 2021 <A fórmula da Havaianas para deixar o mundo aos seus pés | Exame>
