Spain was not a base of shoes historically, however, due to the ever-increasing price of English shoemakers, Spain finds a good place in the market and tons of brands popped out, from Carmina to Meermin, and the earlier Yanko. Later TLB Mallorca is the darling. Not to mention that brands around the world are using the factories in Almansa.
Spanish shoes are famous for their value and the designs are mostly classic, raw materials are all at the high level.
Let us have a tour to this country.
The list ranks from high price to low.
Norman Vilalta
Price Point: 950 USD
This is the top line in Spain.
The founder, Norman, an Argentinian, decided that making dress shoes was his passion at the age of 31 (2002) and moved to Florence, Italy, to apprentice at Stefano Bemer. After the apprenticeship, he settled in Barcelona, Spain, and started the bespoke business. Soon, he hoped that more people could wear his exquisite shoes and released a Ready To Wear collection.
Carmina
Price Point: 430 USD
Carmina has another name, Albaladejo, the name of the emperor family in Spanish shoe industry, the first family to introduce the Goodyear process to Spain. Carmina is the biggest and maybe exclusive Horween shell cordovan user in Spain, and they not only use the most iconic colour 8, but also more vivid colours such as green, blue and tomato red.
Magnanni
Price Point: 395 USD
The Spanish brand with a history of more than 50 years should be on the same level of quality as Carmina. It is rare to see a brand outside of Italy which uses Bolognese construction.
Side Scar is the signature and the brand is too design oriented in my opinion.
Lottusse
Price Point: 380 USD
Before the emergence of Carmina, there were only two brands of high-end dress shoes that were best known in Spain, namely Yanko and Lottusse. The main collection Lottusse 1877 is still produced in Mallorca, but the other two collections with Blake construction are outsourced to Italy.
Zampiere
Price Point: 350 USD
A brand from Zaragoza, Blake Rapid construction focused. There is a tiny collection which is not a problem, but not many models get people tick. I don’t feel it can prosper without any big change.
TLB Mallorca
Price Point: 350 USD
The brand, which was only established in 2018, was promoted with the blogger behind Shoegazing. Basically, as soon as it was launched, it was recognized by the industry and the community.
The brand is named after the company’s founder, Toni Llobera Barceló. His grandfather invented and conceptualized shoemaking machines, his father was in the clothing industry, and he himself loved to make shoes.
The main line launched at the beginning with a price of $350, and it is worth the money. Immediately the premium collection Artista was launched, which is a little higher than Carmina in quality and design, and the style is closer to GG and some Japanese shoemakers. At a price of less than $500, it’s menacing!
Yanko
Price Point: 340 USD
The name always reminds me of Russian and is much less well-known than Carmina.
In the 80s, this brand was the Spanish giant, OEM for many brands (mainly designer brands) around the world. But in the 90s it went bankrupt. Now it’s back with more traditional and elegant in style.
There is still a big problem, that is, whether it is online or physical stores, accessibility is very problematic.
Cordwainer
Price Point: 280 USD
I don’t know if it’s an old shoe factory or new, based in Almansa focusing on Goodyear construction. Recent shoes are very fond of woven leather.
Berwick 1707
Price Point: 199 USD
I don’t know how this 1707 came about, anyway shoes are produced in Spain, using the Goodyear process, cork chips, with leather bottoms and Dainite nipple bottoms. At this price, such a process and materials, it feels very terrifying!
There are rumors that Shoepassion, a German shoe brand, is actually this OEM.
Meermin
Price Point: 179 USD
The brand that can’t be avoided by anyone who like classic dress shoes. Officially admitted to being produced in China, and the quality is very reliable. Known as the entry-level king of price-performance ratio. It belongs to the Spanish Albaladejo family.