Trip To Alicante

After designing the shoes in our studio in Barcelona we work hand by hand with Spanish factories and suppliers. Our trip to Alicante aimed to send to production our new SS 2015 collection. We first visit the shoe factory in Elda, Alicante. This region, located in the South East of Spain is famous for its shoe tradition. The factory is in charge of the assembly of leather and rubber sole models. We discussed technical points and made changes on our first prototypes. For instance, we modified the soles curve of the coming Soc model and reduced the leather thickness of Nans for maximum wearer comfort. Then we visited our suppliers. They provide us with leather, textile, ribbon, heels and soles. In Alicante we also produce our jute soles. They first weave jute fibers into a long braid. Threads from other materials with various colors can be added to customize it. Then the braid is wrapped by hand to give the main soles shape. Each are sewn in a next step to maintain the braids together. Finally, they are heated and sent to the espadrille factory for assembling. The ribbons factory we work with owns specific looms to weave short width textiles. All colours, materials and patterns can be chosen since we order a minimum of them. To close the travel, we hoped to the Shoe Museum in Elda. It holds a large collection of historical shoes. The shoe process is detailed and traditional machines are exhibited. We noticed the machines used for shoe lasts. Wooden blocks were cut with saws before being turned. Nowadays they are mainly produced in plastic by injection molding. See you on next month Alicante for checking SS 2015 production state!