The flip-flop, that most democratic of summer objects, has received the Isabel Marant treatment. The French designer has collaborated with Brazilian footwear brand Havaianas on a collection of two designs timed for Euro summer.
The collaboration captures the current appetite for accessible summer pieces with a designer stamp, objects that carry fashion credibility without the weight of a full collection.
Whether the tie-dye flip-flop becomes a summer staple remains to be seen, but the pairing has already given Euro summer a new footnote.
The first style takes the traditional Havaianas silhouette and dresses it in playful tie-dye prints, a pattern language that carries Marant’s bohemian ease. The second introduces the new Havaianas Puffed, a style with a wide set strap adorned with small metallic baubles.
For Havaianas, the collaboration is a bid to reposition the brand upward without abandoning its mass-market roots. For Marant, it is a natural extension of a label built on effortless, sun-warmed dressing.
The collection arrived on May 22, riding a wave of renewed interest in the flip-flop as a fashion object. After years of the shoe being dismissed as purely utilitarian, designers have rediscovered its sculptural potential.
