Plastic footwear from the 1990s is back in fashion
Transparent sandals, flip-flops, and soft plastic shoes, which were popular in the 1990s, have returned to fashion collections. Now they are produced by both mass-market brands and leading fashion houses, offering new shapes and colors.
Coach Spring 2023 collection. Photo: Lexie Moreland / WWD via Getty Images. Image refined with artificial intelligence.
Transparent elastic plastic footwear, known by its English name jelly shoes, has become one of the notable trends of the season. As Rzeczpospolita.pl writes, while thirty years ago they were primarily associated with children's and youth wardrobes, today designers offer them in a variety of options — from sporty models to elegant high-heeled shoes.
The history of this footwear began in the late 1970s, when the Brazilian brand Melissa released its first models made of flexible plastic. However, they gained true popularity in the 1990s, becoming one of the symbols of summer fashion.
Heels from the Loewe Spring-Summer 2026 collection during Paris Fashion Week, October 3, 2025. Photo: loewe.com
A new wave of interest in jelly shoes began in 2024 after plastic flip-flops from the American brand The Row attracted significant attention. The following year, transparent footwear appeared in collections by Skims, Giambattista Valli, Chloé, and Puma, which released a model in collaboration with singer Rihanna's brand Fenty.
Transparent high-heeled boots on a model showcasing the Chloé Spring-Summer 2026 collection at Paris Fashion Week, October 5, 2025. Photo: chloe.com
This year, similar models are offered by mass-market brands like H&M, Marks & Spencer, and COS, as well as luxury fashion houses. Transparent sandals, shoes, and flip-flops can also be seen in the wardrobes of celebrities, including actresses Zoë Kravitz, Jennifer Lawrence, and Brooke Shields.
Designers are not limited to classic sandals. New collections feature platforms, low-heeled shoes, high-top models, and sportier options.
The Melissa brand itself, which started the history of this footwear, presented joint collections with Ganni and Diesel this year. Jimmy Choo and Loewe opted for low-heeled models, Chloé showcased transparent shoes with straps, and Valentino Garavani offered sandals reminiscent of lace.
Melissa sandals. Photo: modivo.pl
Nike also joined the trend, updating the Rejuven8 Run model, first introduced in 2008. It received a transparent plastic frame and a removable internal "sock-like" mesh element.
Rejuven8 Run. Photo: nike.com
Transparent plastic footwear also appears in men's collections. For example, at the Saint Laurent Spring-Summer 2027 show, designer Anthony Vaccarello presented men's shoes made of translucent material, which became one of the most discussed details of the collection.
Along with the popularity of such footwear, questions about its practicality have resurfaced. Transparent plastic can chafe feet, and the main material, polyvinyl chloride (PVC), is often criticized for its environmental impact. Nevertheless, this has not prevented the trend from returning to the collections of many manufacturers.