The Return of the Flip-Flop

Summer time’s most traditional sandal is getting a fashion-forward improve.

This week, Havaianas, the Brazilian model that’s made $20 rubber flip-flops for over 60 years, is rolling out a collaboration with Italian luxurious label Dolce & Gabbana. The gathering options 4 basic Havaianas’ flip-flops executed in classically D&G maximalist prints, together with leopard, zebra and shiny, illustrated florals. At $138, they’re priced over six occasions increased than an ordinary pair of Havaianas, and can be offered at luxurious retailers like Selfridges and Galeries Lafayette, in addition to on each manufacturers’ direct-to-consumer web sites.

It’s all a part of Havaianas’ plan to harness this present second, the place its flagship shoe is on the upswing.

The model, which noticed its first-quarter income enhance practically 9 % and gross sales go up 3 % from 2023 to 2024, is focussing on getting in entrance of customers. D&G is its third collaboration this yr, following team-ups with fellow Brazilian-born label Farm Rio in March and life-style label Maison Kitsuné in April. Final fall, it rolled out a brand new model marketing campaign, and this summer time, it should additional lean into out-of-home promoting and in-store show to maximise its busiest season.

“Being a part of folks’s lives once more is a should for us,” stated Maria Fernanda Albuquerque, vice chairman of world advertising and marketing at Havaianas’ father or mother firm Alpargatas SA. “Flip-flops are tremendous on development, so we have to trip this wave.”

It’s time for the sandal vendor to align itself with a luxurious label (even when it’s one with a controversial previous). The posh market can’t appear to get sufficient flip-flops. Main manufacturers, together with Chanel, Loewe, Prada, Saint Laurent, Gucci, Tory Burch and Louis Vuitton, are all promoting pairs, plus vogue favourites like Jil Sander, Toteme and Khaite.

Nostalgia is, after all, a driving issue. (Even the Millennial favorite squishy “Floaties” flip-flops are again; a made-for-2024 model is offered at Free Individuals and Amazon.) However the flip-flop’s coming resurgence is proof that even in the age of TikTok micro-fads, the usual playbook for driving traits is alive and effectively: It’s trickled by means of the higher echelons of the style business, and now’s poised to interrupt by means of to the lots.

Gross sales haven’t but seen an uptick, based on market analysis firm Circana, nevertheless it’s nonetheless early on within the traits’ lifespan. Nikolas Minoglou, co-founder and CEO of footwear vendor Historic Greek Sandals, stated the model didn’t see a lot wholesale curiosity 9 months in the past, which he attributed to warning round an unproven development. On its DTC channels, nevertheless, its seen flip-flop gross sales enhance threefold this yr. Minoglou added that he believes the rise might have been 4 or 5 as a lot if the corporate had the inventory. (Historic Greek Sandals is at the moment producing extra of its flip-flop types to satisfy demand.)

This wave of flip-flops and thong sandals are higher suited to a dinner out than a day on the pool. The Row kicked it off with the debut of its Ginza sandal — a $990 flip-flop with a leather-based or suede higher and a one-inch platform — in 2019; by the Spring 2024 season, elevated takes on the flip-flop had been showing on the runway at Chanel, Staud, Ferragamo, Proenza Schouler and extra. Now, Madewell and Hole are promoting extra thong-inspired sandals, in addition to direct-to-consumer gamers like Rothy’s (which is owned by the identical father or mother firm as Havaianas) and Reformation.

“I used to solely put on flip flops dwelling from pedicures, it wasn’t one thing that I’d stroll round in all day,” stated Rachel Cohen Smolyar, a content material creator and a former purchaser for Bergdorf Goodman. “However clearly when massive manufacturers like The Row are pushing a shoe, individuals are going to purchase them.”

Style’s Tackle Flip-Flops

In some methods, in the present day’s flip-flops are totally different from those that got here earlier than; in others, they’re eerily acquainted.

Types that had been aughts staples, like Havaianas, are making their approach again into the style dialog, as are platform flip-flops, which noticed searches enhance 255 % this spring, based on analytics platform Trendalytics. However there’s additionally extra distinctive twists, from variations that reach to wrap across the wearers’ ankle (assume Miu Miu’s widespread Riviere wire and leather-based sandals) to extra dressed-up types with a kitten heel — Trendalytics discovered that searches for kitten heel flip flops elevated 700 % in April.

J.Crew, Loft, Mango and even Previous Navy, synonymous with rubber flip-flops, have launched leather-based (or fake) variations, many unmistakably impressed by The Row’s Ginza or its Metropolis or Seashore types. Havaianas, too, has launched a extra fashionable square-toed model of its rubber flip-flop, plus a lot of new silhouettes impressed by the thong form or introducing design particulars like chains and buckles to the rubber silhouette.

Giving a utilitarian sandal a vogue improve is a playbook that’s labored previously. Take a look at Birkenstock, which has collaborated with the likes of Jil Sander and Rick Owens, and seen its inventory rise by over 60 % since its October 2023 IPO.

Likewise, these updates will assist customers take into account flip-flops for a special setting, past the pool.

“What the business is absolutely scuffling with currently is customers pulling again on their shopping for, newness and innovation turns into extra necessary.” stated Beth Goldstein, govt director and footwear business analyst at Circana. “It’s not essentially recreating the wheel however evolving it. So individuals are like, ‘I had this however now it’s one thing new that I don’t have in my closet, so I’m going to go for it.’”

Behind the Rise of the Flip-Flop

The flip-flop’s present prevalence can also be a reminder that regardless of how a lot TikTok dominates the dialog, with its rapid-fire, hyper-specific trends like “mob spouse” and “coastal grandmother,” it’s nonetheless potential for the old rules of trends to apply, significantly when excited about the rise of an general product class.

“These days typically we see traits on TikTok, within the lots first,” stated Kendall Becker, director of development and editorial technique for analytics platform Trendalytics. “This was palms down sparked by runways and luxurious.”

Goldstein attributes the dearth of a gross sales bump to this point to the truth that seasonal footwear typically is softer than extra year-round types like loafers and sneakers. In response to Becker, it might be as a result of folks could also be searching for out particular footwear, like The Row’s Ginza.

There’s motive to imagine that shift will start this summer time. In response to Trendalytics, searches for thong sandals had been up 12 % in Might; as temperatures rise, extra folks will reevaluate their sandal assortment. The choices are definitely obtainable, and as influencers additional embrace the model, customers are more likely to comply with.

“For some motive the flip flops make you look cooler, like carrying a night costume and flip flops,” stated Christina Martini, the co-founder and designer of Historic Greek Sandals. “We’ve seen that lots currently, that creates an urge for food for it.”