Travel through the quaint countryside of Mallorca to the village of Inca and you’ll find a hidden gem!
Carmina, named after his wife, is the shoe-making company of 78 year-old Jose “Pepe” Albaladejo Pujadas. He’s the family patriarch who lives and breathes shoes, he rarely misses an early morning where he dons his white lab coat and oversees operations at his beloved “factory”. The family’s shoe-making tradition began nearly 150 years ago when Pepe’s grandfather, Matias, opened his own small workshop. Learning a unique method for attaching the sole and using a special instrument called a “last” earned him praise in shoe construction for amazing durability. Still used today, this technique allows the shoe to be resoled when necessary and worn for years and years. Indeed this method is instrumental in the construction of high-quality shoes whereas other expensive shoes aren’t able to be resoled properly.
2 generations later, Pepe realized that people would pay more for quality. He never wanted to be a part of the mass-produced shoe market, shoes that need to be thrown away as soon as their soles wore out. In such, the factory is 100% “hands-on”. Skilled workers specialize in a job: lining, attaching, polishing or inspecting. Pepe still makes vital decisions along with his 3 daughters and 1 of his sons. The factory is the spot to place orders, there are samples galore; and someone from the Pujadas family is always around to help with the critical decisions such as calf boot vs. loafer and alligator vs. lizard skin.
The shoemaking industry initially came to the Inca Valley in Mallorca out of necessity. The first shoes were called “porqueres” and they were vital for working the fields, and made out of old tires or discarded clothing. Like years ago, everything today is made by hand and designed in the mind. Pepe stands true to his belief that you have to feel and touch in order to create something to be worn again and again.
Since 1866, the Pujadas family has been making fine-quality shoes. the first shoemakers in the family had quite modest beginnings, but since the inception of Carmina (the family’s latest reincarnation), 8 stores have opened throughout Europe and they compete stingily with more known Italian and British shoemakers!
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A view into Carmina‘s factory where everything is handmade with the percision and expertise of skilled workers.
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A sampling of some of the exotic skins that Carmina carries
Image courtesy of: Carmina ShoeMaker Tumbler
Don Pepe Pajadas, still hard at work and loving every single minute!
Image courtesy of: Carmina ShoeMaker Tumbler