Castañer, the Luxury Espradilles

Jute is no longer a seasonal element. Thanks to innovations with unusual material mixes like the ones on show at Momad Metrópolis that have turned it into a year-round classic, Castañer is strutting its stuff around the world. The Spanish footwear brand already has fifteen single-brand boutiques in Europe and Asia, an online shop and operations in more than 50 countries. Together, they account for 75% of turnover and notched up growth of 5% at the close of 2014, reaching a figure of €25 million.

For the next three years, it has set itself the ambitious target of opening between forty and fifty new shops on a franchise basis.

Now, the brand has announced its intention of rolling out a second growth stage in Asia in 2015. At the end of 2014, it set up shop in Beijing’s iconic Shin Kong Place mall, its third PoS in China, where the company has an agreement with local company BZY. It also made its Hong Kong debut, opening in the island’s biggest shopping centre, Harbour City, where it has teamed up with the Bluebell retail group, its partner in a number of other South-east Asian countries. According to company sources, sales success in this luxury fashion hotspot proves the coveted location was exactly the right choice. In April, Castañer plans to open a new shop in Singapore.

Latin America is another growth priority for the coming years. After signing a deal with Colombian designer Silvia Tcherassi,Castañer is set to open three shops in the first half of 2015. In parallel to expansion in Colombia, Castañer is in talks to enter Mexico with a local partner. Its sights are also set on Miami, although it will not be focusing development on the USA for the time being, but does have plans to open two shops in Qatar and Dubai.

Castañer hallmark comes back one season more in the Spring-summer/14 collection. Tradition, handcraftsmanship and fashion blend together to update the classic patterns and give a new twist to the original ones. Inspired by organic textures, touches of folkloric motifs, and modern and timeless silhouettes giving as a result fresh and neutral espadrilles that are perfect for the next summer season.

In the ladies’ line, the classic cotton canvas shares its role with tropical prints, stripes and geometric motifs, as well as the washed linen, the vinyl, the grosgrain and the technical mesh. Other materials are soft nappas, the suede, laser cut calf skin and the embossed printed leather. The colour card is made of shades such as red, mango yellow or blue. Also neutral colours such as white, black, ecru, navy and nude and brown shades, besides the metallic silver and gold colours.

The wedges have been elegantly reproportioned and in some cases made lower. They are covered with materials such as wicker, cork and woven straw which are mixed with the classic jute.

Castañer´s origin can be traced back to 1776, year in which Rafael Castañer, the family’s first espadrille maker, was born. In 1927, Luis Castañer and his cousin Tomàs Serra founded the brand’s first workshop. During the Spanish Civil War (1936-1939), Spain’s Republican government nationalized the company, because espadrilles were regarded as a product of military interest. Soldiers were sent to fight at the front wearing «seven-ribbon espadrilles. Castañer opened its first own shop in Barcelona in 1994. This was soon followed by shops in Madrid, Paris, Saint Tropez, Tokyo and other cities in Spain and abroad, including some of the most emblematic locales in the Costa Brava like Llafranc and Cadaqués.