In the renaissance of classic menswear and dress shoes, Spanish shoemakers rose at an astonishing speed and grabbed a lot of market share from its English peers. There are so many shoe factories in Almansa and Mallorca in Spain, and you may think there are so many shoemakers or brands there, the fact is maybe there are, however only few of them gained global reputation and can stand by its own, not the private label production orders. The several coming to my mind simultaneously are Carmina, TLB Mallorca, Meermin and Yanko.
Last
Rain last is the most recognizable last from Carmina, the pioneer bringing chisel toe into mainstream market.
In my opinion, the outside line is not the most harmonious I have seen.
Pattern
Wholecut oxford is good in two ways.
First, it represents the highest craftsmanship in shoemaking, aesthetically and technically. When cutting leather, you have to think about the shape of the whole shoe in the end, because there is really no room for adjustment.
Second, elegance. Wholecut oxford is extremely lacking in lines, so people’s eyes will only pay attention to the external lines of the entire shoe.
The only seam on the shoes.
Leather
Horween shell cordovan is a big selling point of Carmina, as it is one of the few shoemakers in Europe can source Horween shell cordovan.
Summary
Every detail of the shoes is well done, which makes me think that Carmina is really a good choice for money.