After a trip to Rio de Janeiro in June, Luar founder and creative director Raul Lopez, was eager to make a sandal.

“Everywhere I went I saw Kenner, Kenner, Kenner,” Lopez told FN in a preview at his downtown Manhattan showroom the day before his spring 2027 runway show. “Obviously, when you think of Brazilian flip-flops, you think of Havaianas. But all the Brazilians I spoke with while I was in Rio were like, ‘no, no, you have to do Kenners.’”

Lopez explained that Kenners are seen as a “flex” in Brazil with many people collecting them like they would in the U.S. with Jordans. “So, I listened to the girls, and now a lot of the Brazilian models that are coming in (for fittings ahead of Monday night’s show), they’re seeing them here, and then they leave, and then they tell their agents that they want to walk the show because they saw Kenners. I gag,” Lopez added.

So, for his spring 2027 “Christopher Street Columbus” runway show, Lopez worked with Kenner on two never-before-seen versions of the Legend Pro, an evolution of the Legend Original, the first sandal launched by the Brazilian footwear brand in 1988.

One of the styles offered was born from a hybrid combination that brought the aesthetics of a slide sandal closer to Kenner’s traditional toe-post design. Plus, the upper combined a more structured base with the redesigned Legend Pro footbed.

Also featuring a toe-post style, the second model features a wider strap and a redesigned footbed. Each pair features Luar’s signature embossed logo on the strap with a gold Kenner “K” logo at the center of the strap. The shoes are offered in color choices that mirror the palette used in the Luar’s larger collection this season — vanilla, beige, black and royal blue.

On the runway, the sandal was worn by names such as Bernie Martínez, model and brother of singer Bad Bunny, as well as Lopez himself.

For Kenner, this collaboration is about two cultures that come from the street, from community, from people building their own language, meeting on equal ground, Lucas Rodrigues, Kenner’s branding, culture and brand experience coordinator, added.

“There’s nothing we love more than taking what’s real on the street and putting it on a bigger stage, so more people can see it, wear it, feel proud of it,” Rodrigues said. “That’s the same instinct we see in what Raul does with Luar, a brand rooted in community and identity.”

“With ‘Christopher Street Columbus,’ I’m looking at the intersection of histories, identities, and cultures,” Lopez added. “My Dominican roots, my upbringing in New York, and the complex history of Christopher Columbus and the Americas. Bringing Kenner into this universe felt very natural. Its products become part of the silhouette and attitude of the collection, not just an accessory. It’s about taking something deeply rooted in Brazilian culture and bringing it into the world of Luar, where it transforms into something new.”

An official release date for the sandals is yet to be determined, but Lopez hinted that there will be multiple versions of the collaboration to come. In the meantime, the designer advised, “don’t call these flip-flops, everyone in Brazil just calls them Kenners.”