The espadrilles dress themselves of gala. This traditional Iberian footwear made of jute and canvas has ceased to be the girl without pretensions that we were dressing in summer to become a fashionable shoe, thanks to its handmade manufacturing and the new materials of skin with which they are now made with. Bearing in mind the Spanish tradition in the manufacture of espart grass, it is not strange that New York, London, Berlin and Paris want to dress the best espadrilles which carry the label Made in Spain.
Thus, the skins of Acabados Abellán are in great demand by the designers to combine them with the classic jute soles in an amazing variety of colors and styles. The high quality of the skins of Acabados Abellán is known in the international market by the great added value given to the products that it creates, especially shoes. The espardrilles combined with skin have become the most fashionable choice no matter if it comes with the logo brand, very low cut at the instep, with some retro wink or respecting tradition.
The fact is that luxury resides in excellence. The espardrilles evoke a handmade workmanship in which the history of the taste, not meaning that of fashion, has gone settling and concentrating. Nevertheless, up to a few decades ago the espardrillesmade of espart had the status of a shoe for a poor person, of sub-footwear for peasants, labourers and vineyard workers, those which their income was not enough for footwear of certain status. There are existing documents of the year 1.322 which speak about them, but its origin seems to be in the Egyptian sandals. It has always been, a footwear style much tied to tradition and to the folckore, especially in the Valencian Community, Aragon, Balearics, La Rioja, Murcia and Catalonia.
The transformation of this Cinderella of the shoes began when some great artists such as Picasso, Dali and Coco Chanel began using the sandals of the peasants, the century-old espardrilles of the farmers. After came when the hippies and Nordic tourists who visited the Spanish coast in the 1960s which were fascinated by this traditional and comfortable footwear.
But the true metamorphosis of espadrilles in become a glamorous accessory came when the designer Yves Saint Laurent claimed Spanish espadrilles to accesorizar his summer collections, back in the 1970s. Since then, humble footwear has been modernized, it has jumped to the international catwalks and numerous celebrities have popularized its use: from Sofía Loren, who wore them with high heels and colorful ribbons, Grace Kelly, Jacqueline Kennedy or Catherine Deneuve. More recently, this traditionally Mediterranean footwear has joined the outfits of some famous celebrities such as the top model Alexandra Ambrosio – her choice was in fluorecent version -, Alexa Chung – with her sober and total black version with laced strap at the ankle-passing, and also by actresses like Jessica Alba or Anne Hathaway.
The flats are perfect with jeans or capri pants, shorts and bermudas; if you opt for those that rise a few centimetres above the ground or bring a slight platform, then they combine well with skirts, mini-dresses and dress-blouses. They also ravage among men because they are more elegant than some flip flops. Even Pierre Casiraghi wore them with his suit during a charity gala …