Jelly shoes

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A woman wearing jelly shoes

Jelly shoes or jellies are a type of shoe made of PVC plastic. Jelly shoes come in a large variety of brands and colors and the material is sometimes infused with glitter. Its name comes from the French company called Jelly Shoes, founded by Tony Alano and Nicolas Guillon in 1980 in Paris.[1][2][3][4][5]

Although pvc-injected shoes were created after WWII, they were cheap and unappreciated. The shoes became a fashion trend in the early 1980s after the shoes of the company Jelly Shoes appeared in major French and European magazines, Paris fashion shows, and shoe fairs.[1][5][6] Like many other fashion trends from the 1980s, jellies have been revived a number of times since the late 1990s.

History[]

Post-war plastic shoes[]

After world war II, man-made materials such as plastics were cheap alternatives to natural textiles, such as leather and cotton. The French company Sarraizienne claims to have created the first shoe in PVC in the 50's and they were used by fishermen for its ease of cleaning and low prices.[7][8] The shoes were sold in large baskets and were transparent and depreciated in terms of fashion.[1][4]

The creation of Jelly Shoes[]

Logo of the now-extinct French company Jelly Shoes
Logo of the now-extinct French company

In 1980, Brazilian Tony Alano and French Nicolas Guillon were living in Paris in their 20's. Whilst on Holidays in Spain, they had an idea to transform the cheap, ugly, transparent and depreciated shrimp fishermen's shoe into a fun, colorful, urban and fashionable shoe.[1][2][4][5] With a loan from Nicolas's mother, they purchase two hundred Sarrazienne's 'fisherman's' shoes and with the help of Tony's brother, the chemist, they create a special dye. Tony and Nicolas then dye the shoes in their kitchen, dry in their bathroom, and package it in their living room. Because they were handmade, the shoes had a wide color palette, not seen before. They then sell it at a Parisian boutique for prices between 60 to 140 Francs, around 5-10 times more than they were found in the supermarkets.[1][4] There is also an account that the friendship Tony made with the artist Salvador Dali in Paris inspired the creation of Jelly Shoes.[9]

Early days, the frenzy, and today[]

Some of the early summer models of the company Jelly Shoes were the bright colorful and sometimes glitter-infused fishermen's shoes. They came in 12 different colors and had a vanilla or lemon perfume.[10] For the winter they were "Robin Hood" boots, walking shoes with laces and jacquard lining, and escarpins decorated with a bow tie.[4]

The shoes were original and audacious[1][6] and since the shoes were distributed in glamorous boutiques in Paris, many magazines, shoemakers, and other boutiques started to take notice.[1][4][6]  

In 1981, the company Jelly Shoes and their supplier, Sarrazienne, the French fisherman's shoe manufacturer, have disputes as Sarrazienne allegedly broke their exclusivity contract and sold Jelly Shoes's models to other clients.[11]

Jelly Shoes then closed a contract with the Brazilian plastic shoe manufacturer and exporter Grendene in 1982 (a global plastic shoe company that would become the biggest plastic shoe manufacturer in the world).[1][3][12] It was the perfect partnership, the combination of the experimental, artistic and trendy company Jelly Shoes with the manufacturing power that was Grendene.

A year later the shoes exploded in the media and in shops, the shoes were coming in boatloads. The Jelly Shoes company grew 20 times the number of shoes they sold in 1 year.[11] Major French fashion magazines were displaying Jelly Shoes in collections and covering them in articles.  Major stylists such as Thierry Mugler and Jean-Paul Gaultier were designing Jelly Shoes. The plastic shoe had become an item of fashion.

French magazine in the 80's displaying a shoe by Thierry Mugler for Jelly Shoes.
French magazine in the 80's displaying a shoe by Thierry Mugler for Jelly Shoes.

Boutiques and stores around the world, influenced by the French, who had in Paris the center of fashion, started ordering an ever growing number of shoes.

In 1983 in the United States Doris Johanson of the New York department store Bloomingdale’s, ordered 2400 pairs of the jelly shoes she had seen in Europe. Grendene was quick to serve that order with the brand Grendha in the USA.

Multiple newspapers and magazines started to cover the story. The shoes became a global trend. Meanwhile, the Brazilian manufacturer Grendene was exporting to over 48 countries with their own brand Melissa and Grendha.[13]

French Magazine Femme Actuelle displaying Jelly Shoes in the 80's.
French Magazine Femme Actuelle displaying Jelly Shoes in the 80's.

Even though globally the shoes were made under many different brands, the brand of the French company Jelly Shoes starts becoming the term for the type of shoe.

As the trend grew globally, so did the amount of brands. Jelly Shoes tried to protect their shoe models and brand but the company didn’t have the resources to move multiple legal cases in many different countries. One of their models, for example, the tcha-tcha, an italian company started calling their own model Tcha-tch creating a legal dispute.[5] The Jelly Shoe company stopped operating in February 1986 but the type of shoe has been reinterpreted by a number of high-end fashion designers in the early twenty-first century.[8][14][15] Crocs, for example, are seen by many as a modern take on Jelly sandals.[15]

Controversy[]

There have been claims about the potential health hazards of PVC for humans and its negative impact on the environment. The industry responded by developing non-toxic and ecological solutions.[16][17][18]

See also[]

References[]

  1. ^ a b c d e f g h Pilon, Albert (August 27, 1984). "Chaussures: le plastique explose" [Shoes: plastic explodes]. Le Point. France. p. 57. Retrieved February 22, 2022.
  2. ^ a b Gabbey, Régine (May 25, 1984). "Le Look 84". L'Express. France. pp. 41–42. Retrieved February 22, 2022.
  3. ^ a b Ribeiro, Célia (August 23, 1984). "Gaúchos que provam o sabor do sucesso na Europa" [Gauchos that taste success in Europe]. Zero Hora. Porto Alegre - Brazil. Retrieved February 22, 2022.
  4. ^ a b c d e f "JELLY SHOES: l'art plastique" [JELLY SHOES: plastic art]. Hebdo Cuir. France. April 1981. Retrieved February 22, 2022.
  5. ^ a b c d Pilon, Albert (September 28, 1984). "Comment la méduse fluo a conquis nos orteils" [How the neon 'jellyfish' conquered our toes]. Libération. France. p. 6. Retrieved February 22, 2022.
  6. ^ a b c "Chaussures Plastique: Le temps du reflux". Hebdo Cuir. France. May 26, 1986. pp. 5–6. Retrieved February 22, 2022.
  7. ^ "Plastic Shoes - Fashion, Costume, and Culture: Clothing, Headwear, Body Decorations, and Footwear through the Ages". Encyclopedia.com. HighBeam Research. January 24, 2022. Archived from the original on February 7, 2022. Retrieved February 23, 2022.
  8. ^ a b Newbold, Alice (June 3, 2020). "Jelly Shoes Are Having A Moment In The Sun". Vogue UK. Retrieved February 23, 2022.
  9. ^ Severiano, Mylton (July 2005). "Retratos do Brasil" [Portraits of Brazil]. Caros Amigos. p. 14. Retrieved February 23, 2022.
  10. ^ "ON N'ARRETE PAS LE PROGRES!" [You can't stop the progress!]. DÉPÈCHE MODE special salón. October 20, 1981. p. 4. Retrieved February 24, 2022.
  11. ^ a b Roubaud, Catherine (May 1984). "A pieds joints dans le plastique" [With both feet in the plastic]. L'Etudiant. pp. 155–156. Retrieved February 24, 2022.
  12. ^ Michault, Jessica (August 17, 2009). "The Reincarnation of the Jelly Shoe, With a Designer Flair". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved February 24, 2022.
  13. ^ Baker, Steve (March 10, 1985). "Jelly Shoes Make Success Story". Star-Banner.
  14. ^ Moore, Booth (May 30, 2003). "Jammin' jellies". Los Angeles Times.
  15. ^ a b Michauld, Jessica (August 17, 2009). "The Reincarnation of the Jelly Shoe, With a Designer Flair". The New York Times.
  16. ^ James, Caroline (February 16, 2015). "What's got jelly shoe makers talking?". The Sydney Morning Herald.
  17. ^ Reiser, Emon (October 27, 2014). "Lincoln Road retailer moves from pop-up to permanent site". South Florida Business Journal.
  18. ^ Sandoval, Shireen (July 30, 2015). "The Transparent Trend". WSVN.
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