No, idiots, in sneakers, we don’t look like a fool. Or rather, we don’t have more looks like a jerk. If the star shoe of the Basque Country was, for a long time, the fashion faux pas par excellence, it has experienced an unexpected comeback in recent years. In Perpignan (Pyrénées-Orientales), Olivier Gelly, the founder of the brand payote, which markets pairs with flamboyant patterns, is awash in orders. “For three years, we have exceeded 2 million orders each year,” says the Catalan. For the moment, we only manage to manufacture 80,000 a year. Let’s say we’re in a bit of trouble! »
Olivier Gelly launched participatory fundraising, to try to raise 500,000 euros, to build a factory, in Perpignan, which would make it possible to produce more than a million pairs of espadrilles each year, to relieve a little of its partner workshop, in Mauléon-Licharre (Pyrénées-Atlantiques) . “When I started in 2016, I never imagined that there would be so many requests! », is surprised Olivier Gelly.
“We completely dusted off” the sneakers
It must be said that the espadrille, the emblem of the outdated shoe, has been able to reinvent itself. It is no longer the ultra-coarse pump, which goes in the trash after a few weeks. Many French brands market solid, stylish and colorful shoes. “We gave this traditional product a breath of fresh air, we completely dusted it off! », resumes Olivier Gelly. At Payote, a sign that espadrilles are booming, we also make lots of collections for the official shops of the Elysée or the Eiffel Tower, or in collaboration with the organizing committees of the Olympic Games or the World Cup. rugby world. And that is class.
Espadrilles have also taken on new shapes. If the traditional, flat models are still the most popular, the wedge soles or the heels, legacies of the collaboration between the Castaner house and Yves Saint Laurent, in 1970, are snapped up. “It has clearly become a fashion accessory”, says Nicolas Larralde, head of the house Bayona, one of the emblematic espadrille manufacturers in the Basque Country, which has opened a third store in Bayonne (Pyrénées-Atlantiques). “At Chanel, Prada, Vuitton, they all have their espadrilles. All luxury brands want theirs! “It must be said, continues Nicolas Larralde, that these shoes, “it goes with everything! “.
“We choose the espadrilles that we are going to wear according to our outfit”
Of course, the best bowlers always shoot in sneakers. But today, we go out, too, with espadrilles on our feet. “A big house has just contacted us to make a pair of espadrilles for Fashion Week”, confides Alex Lasserre, the grandson of Jean-Pierre Errecart, who founded in Mauléon-Licharre the Prodiso workshop, one of the most popular espadrille manufacturers in the Southwest. So yes, “some people still buy 5-euro sneakers at the gas station, knowing that they will make them during the week, and that’s it! laughs Alex Lasserre. But much more elegant models have appeared on the market in recent years, and today, “we choose the espadrilles that we are going to wear according to our outfit”, continues the young man.
“Like espadrilles, all heritage products, emblematic of a very particular use or of a specific region, can be transformed into true fashion objects, from the moment a major brand launches”, confides Sophie Malagola, artistic director and trend specialist. This is the case for espadrilles, but also for clogs, since Hermès unveiled its high-end version of these ancestral wooden shoes, details this fashion expert. “If a very good brand brings out a product, that legitimizes all the others to do so,” she explains.
“I have lots of requests from couples who want to get married in espadrilles”
In Marseille (Bouches-du-Rhône), the espadrilles of the house Espigas, inspired by the work shoes of the gauchos of Argentina, very different from the Basque models, have “always been fashion products”, says the co-founder of the brand, Olivier Perret. “One of our espadrilles, the yellow one, is even part of the permanent collections of the Marseille Fashion Museum,” notes the entrepreneur, who is also preparing a fundraiser. And we have won, for two years, the Maison Mode Méditerranée endowment fund. And, one more proof that espadrilles still hold the rope, is that they also invite themselves for special occasions. “I have lots of requests from couples who want to get married in espadrilles! “, smiles Olivier Gelly, the boss of Payote. “We embroider them, in their names. That’s a lot of fun! »
But if espadrilles have experienced tremendous growth “for a good ten years”, continues Nicolas Larralde, the manager of Bayona, it is also because there is a “return to craftsmanship”. Admittedly, of the 4 million pairs of espadrilles sold each year in France, only 800,000 are made in France. The rest comes from China or Bangladesh. But many brands are betting on Made in France, and the workshops are running at full speed, especially in the Southwest. “Transparency is in our DNA,” says the creator of the Payote brand. We know where and how we design our espadrilles. And the customers, they are fans of that. »
In espadrilles… We no longer stink of our feet!
If the process of manufacturing a pair of espadrilles has hardly changed for decades, many French houses have taken the turn of ecology in recent years. At Bayona, for example, we work with recycled and eco-responsible materials. And at Payote, the espadrilles are 100% vegan: no leather is used, but imitation leather, obtained from grape marc. The Perpignan brand has even launched a shoe made from Mediterranean waste.
Ah yes, and in espadrilles, your feet no longer stink. Payote created, in 2018, the first pair that does not smell. The brand had caused an incredible buzz by slipping antibacterial microcapsules, made from vegetable oil, into the canvas of these shoes, which, when rubbed by the feet, broke and released a sour smell of grapefruit. Today, Payote still markets this innovation, developed by Montpellier perfumer Arthur Dupuy, in the form of a spray : a pschit in the shoe, and the perfume is released, step by step, for one to two months.
But those that all the perfumes of the world cannot conceal their plantar scents, can also opt for Espigas espadrilles. No rope, no jute, like in the Basque Country. The Made in Marseille espadrilles are made of lined cotton, “breathable by nature”, explains Olivier Perret, and equipped with a leather insole. There is no longer any reason not to wear sneakers.