From Catalonia with Love
Few shoe styles speak of laidback, carefree summer days as much as the espadrille. Some might call it a humble shoe – indeed, it was once nothing more but “peasant” shoes – but its comfort and uncomplicated design have stood the test of time, propelling it out of peasantry and into the realm of high fashion. In fact, when considering that the espadrille’s existence was documented as early as 1322, it’s safe to say that few items in the world of fashion have remained as relevant.
Espadrille is French, and derives from espardenya in Catalan, or esparteña in Castilian/spanish. Espardenya and esparteña refer to a type of shoe made with esparto – a tough Mediterranean grass used to make rope. Indeed, one of the defining characteristics of the espadrille is its flexible sole, traditionally made of esparto rope. It’s traditionally made with a flat sole, but thanks to Yves Saint Laurent, espadrilles went high and espadrille wedge heels are a common sight today.
Not the product of a single country, these beautifully comfortable shoes originated in three different regions, notably the Occitania region in France, the Pyrenean regions of Basque country (France/spain), as well as Catalonia in Spain. In fact, there are shops in the Basque Country today that have been making espadrilles for over a century.
As mentioned, the fashionable status of the humble espadrille is thanks to the legendary Yves Saint Laurent. Saint Laurent had a vision of creating a high-heeled, wedge-shaped espadrille, and it was only after meeting Spanish espadrille manufacturer, Castañer, at a trade fair in 1970 that this dream became a reality. Since then, espadrilles have been a regular feature in fashion collections, and were again a major trend as recently as 2016. Stella Mccartney showed embroidered denim slingbacks in her resort-wear collection, Jimmy Choo chose rich embellishments. Alexander Wang showed black jute soles, and Christian Louboutin showed slip-on espadrilles in exotic toile with a jungle design.
Mixing Spanish tradition with a fashionconscious aesthetic, the eponymous Espadril studio in Cape Town – founded by South African Rizqah Isaacs and Spanish Patricia Terre – make classic Mediterranean espadrilles with a slight African twist.
“We like to think of ourselves as 21st century artisans,” Isaacs says. “We follow the Spanish tradition of making each and every pair by hand, with each pair stitched according to centuries-old traditional methods, before being given ‘local flavour’ with interesting designs and beautiful fabrics. Even our materials are a happy marriage, as we use authentic soles and cotton uppers from Spain, while the leather and other materials are produced in South Africa.
Terre continues: “In general, we play with different uppers and have, for example, several beautiful embroidered styles, as well as ones with nautical stripes and others with interesting frayed details. We both love beautiful things and draw inspiration from a very instinctive place. We are very different, though, and both of us have strong personalities – this shows in our work.”
The designers’ personalities come through especially in the Mediterranean range that combines the typical natural colours associated with espadrilles (Isaacs’ influence) with bright, hot colours (Terre’s influence). “We pride ourselves on having created a line where a woman can come to buy a denim pair for herself and leave with a beautiful camel pair from the Mediterranean collection for her mom, and an orange suede slider for her grandmother. Our shoes can really be worn by anyone under the sun,” Terre says.
Although espadrilles have non-negotiable elements – woven jute soles (the cost and availability of traditional esparto has seen jute take its place in the design) and the shape of the uppers – Espadril has a wide range of options, from the traditional to more fashion-forward, as well as those with an African twist. One of their more popular styles, Valenciana, for example, features the espadrille’s trademark woven rope backs and ankle laces, but also has leather laces and backs to give it not only an African element, but to allow women to wear the normally carefree style away from the beach, too.
For their Spring/summer 2018 collection – aptly named “Heat” – the Espadril team has come up with something very different to anything they’ve done before, using vintage denim, orange suede, calfskin, raw silk, and Spanish cotton to create a sexy, summery range complemented by embroidery and Swarovski crystal motifs featuring tigers, fish, and a colourful toucan.
In fact, Isaacs and Terre are so in love with the espadrille lifestyle, that they’ve also recently established #espadrilgirl. “We want to create a community of Espadril lovers while sharing images of them in their espadrilles. We’re essentially creating a club where women can inspire one another by showing off how they wear and style their espadrilles as a reflection of the Espadril lifestyle,” Isaacs explains. “An #espadrilgirl can, for example, design her own Valenciana espadrilles online by choosing the sole they want, picking a colour, and deciding whether they’d like them open or closed.”
Today, there’s no need to go all the way to Spain for an authentic pair of espadrilles, especially when you can simply pop into Espadril during your lunch break.
For more info, visit www.espadril.co.za.