Product Review
Product: Beach flip flops
Brand: Ipanema: founded in Brazil in 1972
Location: Available in the U.S.A. online at Amazon, also Ebay.
Pros:
Price: Same or usually cheaper price than competitors, at $25-$40 USD a pair
Iconic: Brazilian beach brand, named after famous Brazilian beach and a beautiful song
Comfort: Soft soles, comfortable from the first step
Neutral:
Environment: 100 PCV, nothing natural, yet the synthetic rubber is obtained from 100% recycled plastics. Perhaps a pro and a con.
Cons:
Small sizing for U.S. feet: U.S. clients report that size is 1 size smaller than expected. Order appropriately.
Limited service for returns and other issues
Availability: Somewhat limited availability now in the U.S.A.
Availability:
There are no longer any exclusive Ipanema physical stores. The flip flops are available at Macys and Nordstrom and online at Amazon and eBay. In Brazil, the Grendene compány has assumed the Ipanema brand and, combined with their other footwear popular brands of Cartago and Zaxy, are in Grendene stores, partnering retail outlets, boutiques, and online.
———————–
Iconic, in the Iconic Sense of It
It is the Ipanema Beach
The Ipanema Beach of Rio de Janeiro is in the same bay just south of the bigger Copacabana Beach. Copacabana Beach may be the most famous beach in Rio de Janeiro, most recently for hosting the Madonna concert last year and the Lady Gaga concert this year, concerts that attracted world-breaking numbers of concert-goers, 1 and 2 million, respectively. Still, it is the Ipanema Beach and its upscale neighborhood that is the more exclusive one, smaller and high-fashion and trendy. Slide into and stroll in Ipanema flip flops and share this beach.
It is the Song, “The Girl from Ipanema.”
A Garota de Ipanema
It was on the Ipanema Beach that “The Girl from Ipanema” was written in 1962 by the Brazilian composer Antônio Carlos Jobim and poet Vinícius de Moraes, inspired by a 17-year-old girl, Heloísa Eneida Menezes Paes Pinto (Helô Pinheiro), whom they often saw walking to the beach in the Ipanema neighborhood of Rio de Janeiro. The song became a global hit in 1964 when it was recorded by Astrud Gilberto and Stan Getz, popularizing the bossa nova genre. The song’s enduring popularity has led to numerous covers and recognition as one of the most recorded Brazilian songs.
Internationally acclaimed, “The Girl from Ipanema” won numerous versions with great artists such as Frank Sinatra, Amy Winehouse, Ella Fitzgerald and Nat King Cole. In addition, the song accumulates 423 official recordings and is the most recorded Brazilian song in the world.
“Billie Bossa Nova”, the song by North-American singer Billie Eilish released in 2021, is inspired by, she says, by one of her favorite songs, “The Girl from Ipanema.” This new bossa nova music captures some of samba of northeast Brazil and American jazz.
“When she walks, she’s like a samba”
(…… and she must be wearing Ipanema flip flops….)
From Brazil to the world
The most recorded in the world
Tall and tan and young and lovely
The girl from Ipanema goes walking
And when she passes, each one she passes
Goes, “Aah.”
When she walks, she’s like a samba
That swings so cool and sways so gentle
That when she passes, each one she passes
Goes, “Ooh.”
Even so long after the release of the song, which extols the young and lovely girl and honors the neighborhood of Ipanema, one of the most emblematic neighborhoods in the city of Rio, the song continues to make history.
It is Gisele, the Supermodel
Gisele Bündchen still promotes her Ipanema flip flop line. While she has expanded her business ventures and is still actively involved in modeling, she continues to collaborate with Grendene on the Ipanema Gisele Bündchen collection, which includes flip-flops and sandals. The partnership with Ipanema is a significant part of her business empire.
At the opening of the Rio de Janeiro 2016 Olympics the runway show of model Gisele Bündchen to the sound of “The Girl from Ipanema” is a moment considered by Brazilians as “national heritage”. With 60,000 people in the stands at the Maracanã stadium, the music played throughout the venue and was sung by the audience, making the passage of the top Brazilian one of the most iconic opening moments of the Olympics.
Great Comfort and Snappy Style
INSPIRED BY THE BEACH – is the perfect blend of a relaxed seaside lifestyle which is made of durable and soft Flexpand recyclable plastic with textured rubber footbed and slip-resistant PVC sole for comfortable wear wherever you go
TRENDY DESIGN – Always a summertime essential, these signature Ipanema flip flops feature coloful shades that’ll work with pretty much any outfit, water-ready flip-flop molded with a comfy, supportive footbed that works with your foot
SPRING/SUMMER SANDALS flip-flops are ideal for spring and summer, they embody the warmth and comfort of everything you want when you think of fun in the sun and will coordinate with almost anything in your closet
GREAT WITH – These flip-flops are perfect for the beach or a pool, walking about the town or hanging on with friends; they are great with jeans, shorts, lightweight – long or short – dresses
SIZING TIPS – If you are between sizes, we advise that you order 1/2 -1 size up to the next whole size
When she walks, she’s like a samba. Do it. Find it on your music player and sit back and relax into the music, feel the vibe, the culture of Brazil, and imagine yourself with some Ipanema flip flops taking a lazy yet titillating stroll on Ipanema Beach.
