Barbie Ferreira and Havaianas present their new collab

With the same great emotion felt by two friends who just discovered they share the same roots, the collaboration between Barbie Ferreira and Havaianas was born from the passion of both for Brazil. Ferreira, born in 1996, grew up in Queens of New York surrounded by Brazilian women, starting with her mother, a rich cultural baggage formed at an early age that still supports her throughout her flourishing career; Havaianas, which is turning 61 this year, recognised in the actress a role model for the new generations thanks to her impeccable style and the values she represents, such as freedom and the courage to be herself. Starting from the colors that portrayed the architecture of Rio de Janeiro and its inhabitants in the 60s and 70s, Ferreira's artistic direction for Havaianas led to the creation of flip flops and slides in warm tones such as brown, yellow and green forest, concentrating all the energy of Brazil in nine vibrant designs. On the occasion of the official launch of the capsule, available from June 13 on the Havaianas website, we had the opportunity to meet Barbie and discuss the collection with her.

What has it meant for you to work with a Brazilian brand like Havaianas?

Working with Havaianas as a Brazilian American has been a really fulfilling, nostalgic and cool experience. I have been wearing them since I was a little kid, it’s that one brand that I can tell my entire family about, and they'll all want to wear it and know about it. 

Do your Brazilian origins influence the vision you hold of yourself and your work?

Brazilian culture for me is very expressive and passionate. My mom has no filter whatsoever. She’s empowered, a really cool lady. I grew up around only women in my family, almost all of them Brazilian, so I learned a lot about expressing myself in my own power through them and I’ve never been shy because of them. 

This collaboration celebrates self-expression and the uniqueness of each of us. As an actress, you often have to let go of your 'I' to step into the shoes of the characters you play. How do you manage to maintain your originality?

As an actor, every character has a part of me I’m expressing. It’s really important to ground the character in something that’s real, so even if they are from three hundred years ago, there’s always that kind of human thread of experience that we all feel. I think I always manage to maintain my own originality no matter what, when I’m in a project I tend to dress like the character I’m playing and develop it as I’m there, but then as soon as I’m back home I get to bounce back to the full scope of who I am. It’s the funnest part, as an actor, being different characters and bringing out different parts of yourself. 

In recent months you have closed several chapters of your career. How will you choose future projects?

I’ve been working on a few movies that have been really fun. I was filming in Hungary and then I did one in New Orleans. They were all vastly different characters, it’s been really fun to try things that I haven’t done before, I’ve definitely aged out of being a teenager for the most part which is definitely refreshing, but also sad. I’m now playing young adults that have a more mature understanding of life. I always wanted to do a horror movie, I found a really cool thriller (House of Spoils, soon out) now I’m floating around to see what my next thing will be.