MANILA, Philippines — Even before sustainability became a thing in fashion nowadays, Brazilian footwear label Melissa has boasting of its 100% Polyvinyl chloride (PVC) material, which makes it 100% vegan – since animal-derived materials are not used in manufacturing vinyl, making PVC fit for a vegan lifestyle.
At the brand’s recent 15th anniversary in the Philippines, however, the label marked another milestone: all of its shoes are now also made with 30% recycled PVC.
“Our technology – Melflex – makes our shoes durable and lightweight and 100% recyclable,” Melissa Philippines Marketing Manager Joy Cortez-Dauz told Philstar.com.
Despite the surge of many Brazilian footwear brands in the Philippines, Melissa has stood the test of time in the country – since it reached Philippine shores in 2007 and opened its first store here in 2010 – the first in Asia – thanks to its signature candy scent and many designer collaborations, said Cortez-Dauz.
“Our success in the Philippines is driven by continuous releases of reinvented collections,” she said, singling out their longest collaborations – with British “Dame of Fashion” Vivienne Westwood and Jason Wu.
Since its birth in 1979, the brand has garnered followers throughout the globe and has collaborated with top designers such as Jean Paul Gaultier, Thierry Mugler, Campana Brothers, Zaha Hadid, Karl Lagerfeld, Vivienne Westwood, Jason Wu, Jeremy Scott, Comme des Garçons, FILA, Marine Serre, Opening Ceremony, Viktor&Rolf, and most recently, Y/PROJECT which is also part of the Fall-Winter 2022 releases.