Edson Matsuo

Edson Matsuo is the creative director of Brazilian footwear manufacturer Grendene. When he was hired by the company in 1984, he had never designed a shoe, but, since then, has dreamt up over 2,000 models for its various brands, including Melissa. His main impact is to have created desirable plastic footwear. In collaboration with architects Domingos Pascali and Moema Wertheimer, Matsuo conceived the ultra-funky interior of the Galeria Melissa store in SoHo, New York, which is as innovative as its counterpart in São Paulo. Its dynamic interior is flexible and funky: sequins line the walls, while a gigantic neon star adorns the window. Addressing the theme of the Be Open conference he participated in – Daily and Happy – he pinpointed what he associates with happiness: multi-ethnic living and a tolerance of other cultures. He wowed the audience with images of the Melissa store’s colour-saturated, lightshow-animated interiors, and characterised the shop lyrically as a ‘restless dreamer’.