Braziliano Praia launches “Mangueira” Samba School special edition flip flops November 9, 2008

Braziliano Praia (www.brazilianopraia.com) has created a special edition flip flop for the world famous Mangueira (www.mangueira.com.br) samba school in Rio de Janeiro. The flip flops depict this year’s samba theme for the school “Brazil of Many Brazilians”, showing a mixture of races (Native Indian, Afro-Brazilian, and Portuguese) that form the Brazilian population.

Mangueira is possibly the most famous samba school in the world. With origins in the beginning of the 20th century, it now boasts a fan base in Rio of over 3 million people. Every year over 10 thousand people actively participate in the Mangueira parade at Rio’s Sambodromo.

The flip flops were launched at one of the monthly ‘feijoada’ lunches at the Mangueira headquarters in the north zone of Rio. Several thousand people attended, including school president Eli Gonçalves da Silva and Marquinho, the current “mestre-sala” of the school. Also in attendance were state senator “Chiquinho da Mangeira” and journalista Sergio Cabral, Sr.

The flip flops are available at the Mangueira “Verde-Rosa” boutique in Rio de Janeiro. Shortly they will be available on the school’s online shop. More flip flop versions are planned, including a green-pink Martini model that will accompany the school’s colors.