SPOTLIGHT
The craft behind the country
Long-form features on the techniques, cooperatives and clusters that make Brazilian fashion materially distinct — and on the people who keep them alive.
Business · Collaborations · Footwear · Global expansion · 23 September 2026
THE COLLAB CODE: HOW MELISSA, HAVAIANAS AND FARM RIO PARTNERED THEIR WAY ONTO THE GLOBAL STAGE
In September 2026, Havaianas dropped a football-art capsule with Brooklyn's KidSuper. A few months earlier, Melissa launched jelly heels with Copenhagen's Ganni. Neither is a lucky break — it's the latest chapter in a strategy three Brazilian brands have been running since before "collab" was even a marketing word. Here's the playbook, brand by brand.
8 min read
1 article tagged “Footwear” · page 1 of 1
Production map
Where things are made
Denim & jeanswear
Toritama & Caruaru, PE
One of the highest-volume denim ecosystems in the Americas, built on dense networks of small workshops.
Knitwear & jersey
Blumenau & Brusque, SC
Technically advanced mills with strong finishing capability and growing low-impact dye infrastructure.
Footwear & leather
Franca & Novo Hamburgo
Historic shoe clusters serving both mass and premium markets, with established export logistics.
Cotton & agroecology
Ceará & Paraíba
Organic and naturally coloured cotton grown by family farming cooperatives with certification pathways.