Melissa- Brazilian Luxury at Your Feet

Shoes that redefine the luxury footwear industry. We present to you, Melissa. A footwear brand that has changed the industry to make it more stylish, fashionable and the best aspect? Sustainable and recyclable. Known to create their footwear from a chunk of plastic to something so classy in just 26 seconds, this Brazilian luxury brand is a brand that genuinely enhances creativity. It’s a creative expression of various artists, architectures and even designers.

Their motto remains-

‘Express Yourself Through A Shoe. With This Idea, We Permit Creative Liberty Capable Of Creating Icons’

Melissa was one of the first brands to start collaborating with various other artists to create collections that got women flocking for their shoes. It has also collaborated with the avant-garde fashion pioneers like Vivienne Westwood, Jean Paul Gaultier, and Karl Lagerfeld.

Rightly said by Gilberto Gil,

'Brazil was, is, and will be in fashion.’

Melissa, with the Campana brothers, has brought out the true essence of Brazilian fashion and the ‘Brazilianess’ to the world.

So what makes this brand stand out? Let us explore the world of Melissa, with its 40+ years of experience, 32 million pairs and counting shoes produced, innumerable celebrities and artist collaborations, and today, sold in more than 90 countries.

World Of Melissa

Founded in the year 1979, this young brand brings into the routine designs from big names in fashion, art, and even architecture. It drew its inspiration straight from the sea. Born in the coastal country of Brazil, The fashion world was disrupted once the shoe was released. Ruchi Sally, the Managing Director of Melissa, India says that, “In 1979, the aim was to transform plastic into fashion. It became an immediate success and became the fashion symbol in Brazil. Since then till now we always give a reminder to ourselves that everyday search for an extraordinary. This is our inspiration. Our manifesto is what we are. We belong to the world and diversity is our world.”

One of the most iconic designs, the Aranha model, originated on the feet of French Riviera fishermen. In no time, it caught on with the Brazilian vibe to become one of the most popular shoes around. Melissa is famous for its democratization of design. It’s a blending post of art; all forms of art come together at Melissa to give birth to something new and fresh.

Mellisa’s iconic shoes also include the Campana collection. The theme of Campana work is ‘In order to belong to the world, first, we need to embrace our own backyard. It is by carrying a country’s culture that crosses boundaries’. In one step, Melissa Campana went from Brazil to Italy, from São Paulo to Rome. It’s a combination of the old and the new worlds to create Barroca, a Melissa collection where everyday Brazilian life meets the most refined of all arts.

You can find artistic galleries of Melissa in New York, London and Sao Paulo. Their first flagship store was opened in the heart of the famous city, Oscar Freire. The designers and stylists out here believe that Melissa is more than just a shoe brand. It is a way to express art or them. In 2014, they inaugurated their headquarters in the UK at Covent Garden. Being the homeland of Vivienne Westwood and Gareth Pugh, the London galleria takes an extra dose of bossa in plastic.

In 2009, Melissa completed 30 years in the industry and to commemorate this occasion, the brand materialized its journey and world into its first magazine, called the Plastic Dreams.

The Melissa Experience

The luxury industry is all about the experience. So what made Melissa special? Melissa came up with something that the world would talk about. Upon passing any Melissa store in the world, you’d get a familiar smell. A smell that reminds you of childhood and adult lives too. It is a part of your memories and will always remind you of Melissa shoes. To authenticate your Melissa experience, all original Melissa shoes are made to infuse with a sweet and distinct bubblegum smell.

This also became a technique for its loyal customers to authenticate Melissa shoes. The scent doesn’t last forever, but it remains for a few months. Some users have also said that it lasted for years.

One of the other features that the brand prides itself on is their strive for sustainability and love for the environment. The brand is a pop luxury Brazilian footwear brand that knows how to use plastic the right way! Melissa shoes are made entirely out of plastic. It uses its own trademarked material, Meflex™, a type of PVC that is 100% recyclable. It gives comfort to the wearer and is also flexible, resistant.

Melissa Tribe

‘They have a joy for life in Brazil, unlike any country I’ve ever seen.’

Imbibing a real Brazilian persona, Melissa has been celebrating life and art since the time it originated. The footwear brand releases two significant collections each year- Spring-Summer and Fall-Winter. Melissa started collaborating with famous artists and designers before it was even recognized. Their first collaboration was dated back in 1983 with the designer known for his eccentric designs and avant-garde fashion- Jean Paul Gaultier. Since then, they have conceptualized with industry kings like Karl Lagerfeld, Zaha Hadid, Jason Wu, New York duo Scott Studenberg and John Targon, Alexandre Herchcovitch, the haute couture brand, Comme des Garçons and many other names.

It was also a rendezvous between plastic and punk when Melissa collaborated with Vivienne Westwood. An iconic collection came to life and is yet sought around the world.

The creative director of Melissa shoes, says, 

“Design is a collective tool capable of demolishing impossibilities.”

His sole premise for his creations is ‘creative freedom’. He says,

“It sets the tone for everything in Melissa”.

Besides collaborations with the best designers, Melissa has also taken the Bollywood route. You’ll spot many A-lister Bollywood celebrities spotted wearing Melissa footwear. From the likes of Deepika Padukone, Sara Ali Khan, Alia Bhatt, Jacqueline Fernandes, Kiara Advan, Disha Patani, Shilpa Shetty, Malaika Arora, Shraddha Kapoor, to even Ayushman Khurana.

Melissa and Sustainability

Besides art, creativity, fashion, and design, Melissa is also about sustainability. As a part of their sustainability development growth program, Melissa even created a Department of Sustainable Development in 2011. As mentioned, all their shoes are made from their own material, Meflex, which is entirely recyclable and also vegan. Melissa seeks sustainability at all levels of their production. They improve in and out of Melissa avoiding waste, optimizing resources and recycling products.

Their mission is to turn plastic into something extraordinary and to keep doing so in an eco-friendly way. Melissa shoes have a long lifespan and now even more as they have started remoulding the plastic. So now, the same shoes get remoulded into new designs while saving on energy and resources.

In production, leftover plastic is 100% reused again, and 90% of the industrial waste gets recycled internally or externally.

In a world where industrial waste and waste from the fashion industry generates 4% of the total waste generated by the world, brands like Melissa are a need of the hour. Celebrating joie de vivre, Melissa is set to take on the luxury world.