Melissa has launched its latest project entitled Melissa Academy at the fall/ winter 2011 shows in Rio this week. The project aims to develop partnerships with design students through schools around the globe, and for its first edition the label worked with Head Gèneve in Switzerland. The goal was not to just design a shoe, but to create a "walking object" or a "body accessory." Out of the three winners unveiled this week on Melissa's website, my favorite was designed by Julie Simon and inspired by a rubber duck.

The winning designs will be produced in limited editions and sold at Galeria Melissa in São Paulo and online at Melissa's website starting on April.

Italian architect and designer Gaetano Pesce came up with a pretty cool concept for his first collaboration with Brazilian footwear label Melissa. His futuristic plastic ankle boots above can be easily customized with the help of a pair of scissors, and transformed into a pair of flats or even sandals. 

The new Melissa by Gaetano Pesce will be available in August in the six color options pictured above.

I have known for a while that Brazilian footwear label Grendene, responsible for the famous line of plastic shoes Melissa, was set to launch a men's line called M:Zero this year, but I hadn't seen pictures of the first pieces until last week. From the pictures above, the styles look pretty cool and great for either summer in the northern hemisphere or winter down here in Brazil. Both styles come in versions with flocking, which give them a bit of a more polished look. I heard there was also a flip flop being developed, but no pictures have surfaced yet.

I am not sure how comfortable the shoes are since I haven't worn shoes made of rubber in about 30 years, but I am going to try to get a hold of a pair and take it for a test drive in São Paulo.

The new M:Zero will be available in July.

• Singer Vanessa Da Mata will be performing tonight at the New Museum's Spring Gala After Party, co-hosted by Lorenzo Martone and sponsored by Melissa and Interview magazine. Tickets for the party cost $100, and are available online at the New Museum Store.
• If you are in Rio and not New York, don't miss the Buati party at Erotika tonight.
• Gisele was photographed by Mert and Marcus. for the fall 2010 Roberto Cavalli campaign. Alessandra Ambrósio continues her recent fashion cross-over by landing the fall 2010 Moschino campaign shot by Inez & Vinoodh.
• Meet the latest VMan/ Ford Models contest winners.
• Another incredible editorial from the new issue of Hercules.
• Akon talks about the new Lady Gaga album.
• Vogue is planning New York's biggest fashion show for Fashion's Night Out 2010, booking over 200 models.

Jean Paul Gaultier was one of the first designers to ever collaborate with Melissa back in 1982. Since then, the Brazilian brand of plastic shoes has worked with the likes of Mugler, Patrick Cox, Karim Rashid, Alexandre Herchcovitch, the Campana Brothers, and more recently Vivienne Westwood ,and Zaha Hadid. For spring 2010, Melissa and Gaultier teamed up again to prove that a pencil thin plastic heel can look pretty cool and sexy.

Melissa is celebrating its 30th anniversary with an exhibit in Santa Tereza in Rio, which opened to the public this week, and runs until November 15. Do not miss it of you are in Rio for Gay Pride this coming weekend.

View pictures of the opening night of the Melissa Eu! exhibit at RG Vogue.

Brazilian footwear label Melissa is celebrating its 30th anniversary this year with a big bash at Solar Santa Teresa in Rio on the night of October 27, and a new exhibit entitled Melissa Eu!. The exhibit will run from October 28 to November 15, and feature previously unseen images from Melissa's ad campaigns, as well as some of the brand's iconic jelly shoes developed in collaboration with the likes of Jean Paul Gaultier, Alexandre Herchcovitch, Karim Rashid, Vivienne Westwood, Zaha Hadid, the Campana brothers, and many others.

Make sure to visit the exhibit if you are going to be in Rio for Oi Fashion Rocks later this month. More details as soon as they become available.