They are the favorite espadrilles of many designers and the company that manufactures them, Castañer, has just closed the 2022 financial year with a turnover of 24 million euros, 25% more than in 2021. The firm that has popularized and elevated category of sophisticated shoes the classic espadrilles worn by peasants in the countryside opened its own store in Barcelona this Thursday, number 34 in a long list that makes them present in the main cities of the world, especially those linked to the world of fashion Like Paris and Milan.
The Castañer firm, however, is not alien to Barcelona. The first store of the house was opened very close to the current one, in 1994. Cristina Castañer did it, who together with her brothers Luis, Antonio, Rafael and Lorenzo, inherited the family business. A first business that after almost 20 years of experience had to close due to the pandemic. “Barcelona is very important to us and it will be easier for us to start thanks to the previous work that our sister didâ€, commented Rafael, Antonio and Luis, the three brothers in charge of the business (the remaining two remain partners).
The Barcelona store values ​​the dominant philosophy of the brand since its origins, in 1927: tradition, craftsmanship and natural materials. Each pair of espadrilles are a constant tribute to their ancestors in Banyoles, where the company was forged, and above all to their parents, who had the vision to listen to an enlightened man who one day asked them if it was possible to put a wedge on the espadrilles. It was Yves Saint Laurent and it was the first years of the seventies.
This is how the Castañers went up to the fashion catwalks of Paris, taking and bringing samples of espadrilles through the Talgo that covered the Barcelona-Paris route at night and with the complicity of one of their workers. Shortly after, they arrived in Milan at the hands of Elio Fiorucci, who ordered them with the red canvas and made them the cover of Vogue.
The three sons have followed the indicated path and every year, for the last six years, they have made duets with leading fashion figures such as Manolo Blahnik or Diane von Furstenberg. They customize the original Castañer and give rise to models that seduce young people as well as an entire American first lady. Jill Biden is the proof.
