melissa – Do you remember those “jelly” shoes?

Do you remember those “jelly” shoes we all had as kids in the 80′s??? Personally I loved mine: pink sparkly sandals. They were my “go to” shoe, they went with all my outfits, they were super comfortable, they were cool and lets be honest – they were pink!

melissa is the original ‘jelly’, born in 1979 in Brazil. For over 29 years the melissa label has been creating and designing shoes that are exported to all parts of the world.

A few years ago, to add to the melissa experience, the decision was made to infuse all melissa shoes with a sweet bubblegum smell. The smell will not last forever – but it does remain for quite a few months and is one of the most talked about features of melissa. My whole wardrobe now smells delicious thanks to my new melissa shoes – I love it!

melissa releases two major collections per year, a winter collection and a summer collection, both launched at Sao Paulo Fashion Week in Brazil. If a particular style proves to be very popular and melissa decides to re-release this style then that style is re-launched in a new range of colours.

Gone are the days that melissa just does the “jelly” sandals, If its flats, wedges, pumps or statment pieces, melissa is the perfect foot accessory!

We’ve hunted down some vintage images of melissa shoes just to rekindle your memory…

Claudia Schiffer from the 80′s

Don’t we love the crimped hair and socks with sandals – vintage at its best.

More on melissa

• Visit melissa  Melissa website
• Be friends with melissa Facebook page

Also couple of good videos below:

• Melissa channel……an endless supply of cool vids and behind the scenes….
• Vintage 1979 clip from Brazil
• melissa ads, collections and party footage ( in Portuguese)

Also, check out the  Q&A with Edson Matsuo – Creative Director of melissa below

Have fun reliving your youth with  melissa “Jelly’s”

Your Welcome x

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1. Please tell us your name and a bit about yourself and your background?

My name is Edson Matsuo and my training is architecture and urbanism. At the beginning of my career, I worked as a graphic designer, an illustrator and cartoonist. In my own time I like to bike ride long distances and one of my favourite trips was crossing the Andes.

2. Can you tell me a bit about Brazil that we may not know here in Australia?

Besides being a country that really enjoys having fun, Brazil has the world’s largest population of Japanese descendants. It also has 8,000 km of coastline.

3.   How did Melissa Shoes get started – what is the story there?

The idea for melissa began with a design for packaging bottles of wine and the discovery of shoes worn by traditional French fishermen. Our parent company Grenede saw the opportunity to bring the two together in the late 70’s and melissa was born.

4.   What are Melissa Shoes made of?

A lot of passion and fun.

5. Why did you choose to make the shoes smell like bubblegum?

Emotions form the happy moments in life, especially those had in childhood. The Bugglegum scent evokes happy memories for almost everyone. I am sure melissa is the only shoe we put to our nose before putting on our feet.

6. What is your favourite Melissa design?

The design for the next project.

7. How did you end up having people like Gaultier and Westwood designing shoes for you?

It would be unfair for me to say because it is a co-creation of a dream, an experiment, and a new category of fashion accessories which is Melissa.  I am sure that the language of plastic from Melissa is the inspiration.  We provide the opportunitiy and they create the magic. I have the privilege of being one of many who are handling this in the wings.

8. Melissa is 30 this year – did you think you would come this far?

Definitely not. I believe that Barbie never thought she would reach her 50’s. (Laughs).
The key is tasting each moment of each project as if it were the last chance to try something new. Focus on now and the rest follows.

9. Can you tell me about your current collection from Zaha Hadid?

The Melissa + Zaha Hadid collaboration can be considered as a collection of several experiments in one shoe.  The project had a duration of 3 years.  It was one of the best learning experiences I’ve had, working with Ms. Hadid and her team, and I am very grateful for it.

10. Was it strange having an architect design your shoes?

When working with footwear, you work with something bigger, which is the movement and posture and this is based around the “arch” of the foot.  So our conceptual link is in the “arch” and the difficulty is “building-shoes” that move.  If the shoe is uncomfortable, it complains. (Laughs).

11. Melissa is quite an environmentally sound company – can you explain the process of making the shoes and how you have lessened the impact on the environment?

Before speaking about Melissa, we speak of Grendene, melissa’s parent company and the largest footwear company in Brazil. Nowadays Grendene is a factory which does not produce residue  because we work with 100% recycled plastic and all waste is recycled.  Before the industrial process of production we should emphasize that at the beginning of this chain sustainable design is important.

12. Why is sustainability in design so important?

Because we are in the beginning of the chain in the industry, once a product is launched on to the market there will be a reaction to it.  The issue of sustainability is still in the beginning and therefore what you do not use in production saves resources.  No one will need to reuse and recycle anything that does not exist.

13. What can we expect from you in the future?

More fun in a Melissa form.

14. Is there anything you want to add?

Thank you for this opportunity to be together co-creating this on-going experiment called melissa.