Alpargatas' main product is Havaianas, one of the largest Brazilian brands of rubber flip-flops introduced in 1962 and inspired on the Japanese Zori sandals.

It was founded in 1907, under the original name of "Fábrica Brasileira de Alpargatas e Calçados", by Scottish immigrant Robert Fraser in association with an English company.

However, in 1982, after a gradual process of nationalization of capital started in 1948, São Paulo Alpargatas ceased to have Argentine participation and passed to the control of the Camargo Corrêa group, its largest shareholder.

[10] In November 2015, the Camargo Correa group sold Alpargatas to the J&F Investimentos conglomerate, owner of the JBS S.A. food company, for 2.67 billion reais.

[11] On July 12, 2017, the companies Cambuhy Investimentos and Brasil Warrant[12] (both owned by the Moreira Salles family) and the Itaúsa holding purchased Alpargatas for 3.5 billion reais.