Melissa Plastic Shoes: Inspiration through Innovation

Melissa Plastic Dreams is certainly the most fun shoe company I had never heard of! They proclaim to have manufactured over 50 million pairs of shoes over the last 25 years. Huh? Where have I been? Ok, the shoes are made in Brazil and not widely distributed in the US, but still…

Anyhoo, it is assured that, with the posse of top style icons that have recently contributed their designs to the Melissa collections, coupled with the fact that the company is ultra environmentally-friendly, Melissa is definitely a name that will be on every stylista’s lips very soon.

In Melissa’s case, plastic is the chosen medium to communicate technology and renewal… in the form of shoes. The company admirably considers that it has an obligation to produce without damaging the environment. So, a sustainability protocol is established throughout every step of production, from when the shoe is created, developed, fabricated and distributed. Their products are easily recycled. No production byproduct leaves their factory without having been treated for a practically zero waste. Wow.

Their proprietary material, called Melflex™ is used in all their shoes. It provides elasticity, impermeability and resistance. Its formula is hypoallergenic, odorless and natural.

Consider some of Melissa’s recent design partners:  Judy Blame – the king of punk, Karim Rashid – the prince of plastic, Vivienne Westwood and award winning architect Zaha Hadid as the latest collaborator.

The sculptural Zaha Hadid shoes are not available in the shops until September when they will be launched at London Fashion Week, and then they will only be available at Dover Street Market.  I’m not too heatbroken about that since I’m not sure how wearable the shoe is, but I merely love the fact that they were created. Definitely a little piece of art.

For more wearable Melissa styles, these US based sites sell the brand. See here and here.