NYLON - May 2008 - (Page 68) FLIPPIN’ OUT WHEN FACTORY GIRL DANI STAHL COULDN’T MAKE IT TO THE HAVAIANAS HEADQUARTERS IN BRAZIL, SENIOR MARKET AND ACCESSORIES EDITOR MICHELLE RENEAU GRACIOUSLY OFFERED TO TAKE A WALK IN HER SHOES. OR IN THIS CASE, FLIP-FLOPS. PHOTOGRAPHED BY AGUINALDO PEDRO Remember the episode of Roseanne when all of a sudden there was a new Becky, with no good explanation? Very uncool. I would never try to pull a stunt like that with NYLON readers! So yes, the girl with the fabulous hair bows pictured here is not me, your regular correspondent Dani Stahl. Because, as much as I would love to jet off to a new factory every week I actually do have to spend some time in the office. So when Havaianas, Brazilian flip-flop giant––the brand makes over 600,000 pairs a day which are then distributed to 80 countries––invited me to their headquarters outside São Paolo, I decided to dispatch NYLON senior market and accessories editor Michelle Reneau in my place. And since it is a rare occurence for me to relinquish my duties, instead of babbling on like I usually do, I decided to sit down and interview–– Diane Sawyer, watch your back––this month’s de facto Factory Girl about what it was like to be, well, me if only for a day. DS: One might say that I am now a factory aficionado. You, on the other hand, are a virgin. Tell us about your first time. MR: It was spectacular. You know that they say Brazilians do it better. DS: I’ve heard that. So how was your trip down extremely south of the border? MR: Rachel (the NYC-based associate marketing manager for Havaianas) and I left New York at the crack of dawn, and a mere 13 hours later we were in São Paulo. The factory was actually another four or five hours away, so I would say it was more like a voyage. factory girl clockwise from top: how do you say enormous in portuguese?; you must suffer for fashion; the, er, secret powder ingredient; a pile of children’s pink platform flip-flops heading for japan; the finished product.
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