Rafael Castañer Discusses Espadrilles And The Evolution Of His Eponymous Family Firm

World-famous for its espadrilles, Castañer throughly exudes the spirit of Spain and has completed so for the reason that model was established again within the 1770s by artisan Rafael Castañer.

Quick ahead, and by 1927, Luis Castañer and his cousin Tomàs Serra has arrange the primary workshop, and the label advanced from purposeful footwear into the style sphere. By the ’70s the style homes had cottoned onto Castañer and it’s handcrafted jute footwear, and Yves Saint Laurent commissioned the household to provide the primary espadrille wedge, now generally known as its signature Carina fashion.

Two centuries on, the model stays true to its core values of artisan craft, timelessness, and the Mediterranean spirit, evolving to additionally embody not onlay a womens line but additionally mens, bridal, equipment, and thrilling collaborations within the type of a Altuzarra capsule vary. Rafael Castañer shares extra about his household enterprise and its cornerstones.

Felicity Carter: What was your first reminiscence of style?

Rafael Castañer: Ever since I used to be a toddler, my dad and mom would all the time discuss style at house and I learn the style magazines would arrive from Paris and Italy. I can keep in mind within the ‘70s when all of the magic first occurred, and there was a gathering with Yves Saint Laurent and he commissioned us to provide the jute wedge, the primary in historical past.

FC: Had been you all the time inspired to enter the household enterprise?

RC: It was all the time a chance, once I completed my research, the corporate was at a second of transition and the thought of becoming a member of the challenge was thrilling, however my household additionally needed me to study the commerce overseas. To realize expertise I labored on the distribution aspect of the footwear business, after which in design, the reality is that I all the time knew I’d go into it.

FC: What are the ideas behind Castaner?

RC: There is not only one, there are a number of ideas that outline us: craft, timelessness, and the Mediterranean spirit. We’re fortunate to have began greater than two centuries in the past braiding jute to make espadrilles. We’ve labored for the main style homes on the earth, and our assortment is as we speak a benchmark for handmade footwear — we’re proud to maintain the craft right here in Spain.

FC: What are the cornerstones of the corporate?

RC: In 1927 my household created the primary jute braiding machines. Right now, virtually 100 years later, along with our artisans, we proceed to do issues as they had been then, with collections that don’t exit of favor. That is why I’d outline our cornerstones as timeless and handcrafted.

FC: Inform us concerning the course of?

RC: Right now, fortunately, we now have knowledge to research such because the developments that we gather at worldwide gala’s along with exhibitions and artists. We take a look at the developments with regards to shoppers and their consumption habits, and this enables us to focus our iconic assortment on seasonal shades, and ship types which can be in step with our DNA: artisan, pure, moral, and sustainable.

FC: What’s your profession spotlight so far?

RC: Though I intently observe the boys’s assortment, I really feel particularly pleased with the sturdy bond that we now have created throughout the corporate — with household, our workforce and wider community, establishing hyperlinks that permit us all to align in a single course and have one clear Castañer model voice.

FC: How would you just like the model to evolve, having launched a males’s line your self?

RC: To ensure that the model to evolve and the general public to proceed to have the identical notion of the model, our founding ideas should be nurtured and punctiliously and up to date as time goes on.

See the complete Castañer assortment on castaner.com.