Interview with Ricard Llop

Marketing Director – Toni Pons
Homegrown and Iconic Brands of Barcelona

Discuss the history of Toni Pons, from its origins in 1946 to its current status as an internationally recognized brand.

Toni Pons was founded in 1946 in Osor, Spain. Since the beginning we have offered both winter footwear and handmade espadrilles.

The espadrilles are a special shoe, and our company’s history is intertwined with it. In fact, the oldest documented footwear in Europe was found on the Spanish Mediterranean coast, they were esparto sandals dating back over 6,000 years. These sandals evolved into what we now know as espadrilles.

For centuries, espadrilles were worn by farmers and peasants and were part of popular culture.

Since 1946 we have been updating this product using materials that improve comfort and fitting. We combine artisanal methods such as the hand-stitching of the upper and the sole, with new materials and the latest trends to offer a contemporary product with more than 6,000 years of history.

This led Toni Pons espadrilles to be the most-sold Spanish espadrilles world-wide.

How has the brand evolved over the decades while maintaining its essence?

We evolved, yes, but maintain the essence by doing two things:

  1. We remain loyal to the espadrille and its origins; this is why we are committed to producing in Spain to honor its heritage. We update it every single year by incorporating new styles and designs to it.
  2. Year after year we remain focused on our mission, when it comes to footwear, there is a myth that a person must be willing to be uncomfortable or even suffer to look good. Our mission is to break this myth. We do that by providing the best possible balance between comfort and style.

How does the brand balance traditional craftsmanship with modern, eco-friendly practices?

We apply new processes and more eco-friendly materials to our products, this allows us to maintain a traditional handcrafted product, but also align with the growing need of minimizing our impact on the environment. In our catalogue, materials such as jute, the material we use in our espadrilles’ soles (known as the golden fiber for its low water consumption and capacity to absorb carbon dioxide), cotton, linen, cork, and raffia, among others, are key players.

What strategies has Toni Pons used to expand its footprint globally, especially in competitive markets like the U.S. and Asia?

Our products have demonstrated to be attractive to a wide variety of international markets, from Georgia to Colombia and Saudi Arabia. We believe it’s equally important to find the right partners with good distribution channels and the local knowledge that is so relevant when developing the brand in competitive markets.
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What challenges has the brand faced during international expansion, and how were they overcome?

Expanding and growing is challenging at multiple levels: scaling production capabilities, specially challenging with handcrafted products, growing the team, more logistic space, new processes, updated technology … It’s a good problem to have, yes, but it challenges all areas of the business. Luckly we are a team of people fully involved in the company’s success and year after year we are more capable to overcome what comes our way.

How does the brand continue to innovate while preserving the traditional handcrafting methods that are central to its identity?

We innovate with our products: the espadrille, a traditional product that we make “sexy” by incorporating our own twist to it, as well as with our winter products, constantly redesigning them and innovating in forms, materials and designs to make them more attractive than all previous collections.

How do such partnerships align with the company’s brand values?

We treat them well, they become loyal customers, it’s a mutually beneficial relationship, we love our customers and they love us back, this motivates us to keep working hard for them, and they appreciate it.

Are there any notable collaborations or partnerships (fashion, retail, or celebrity endorsements) that have contributed to the brand’s visibility and success?

We believe that each one of our customers helped build our success, a great product and service incentivizes word of mouth, which helps us build a customer base, plus the fact that customers repeat year after year. These are key factors in our success.

Can you share insights into the design and production process for the iconic Toni Pons espadrilles?

Most of our espadrilles have this unique characteristic: we hand-stitch the sole with the upper with a long and wide needle, it can take around 200 stitches and 45 minutes just to do this part of the process, which by the way is fully hand-made by these amazing people called Maestros & Maestras Alpargateras, aka master espadrille makers. The rest of the processes are also artisanal and keep similar to the ones used centuries ago. It’s a unique elaboration, I honestly believe that a handcrafted product generates a better result.

How is Toni Pons preparing for the future?

We are ambassadors of a unique product, and we are working on communicating it and giving it the credit it deserves, both nationally and internationally.

Our online channel is fairly new in the company, and it already accounts for a large amount of our sales with a lot of growth potential.

Our Retail channel already features 50 locations combining both own-operated stores and franchises. We are building new processes and systems to assist our partners and provide a better experience in store.

And lastly, we see a lot of success in the multi-brand stores that dedicate a significant amount of commercial space to our brand and offer a good variety of our products. We support them with new marketing materials and incentives that help them capture customers’ attention and capitalize on their space.

Can you elaborate on Toni Pons' social responsibility initiatives? How does the brand give back to the local community in Barcelona or other areas?

We collaborate with multiple non-profits to give back to the community and assist the less fortunate, both in Spain and internationally. We have been a lot and communicating very little, we do that because as opposed other brands, for us is a matter of values, not part of a communication campaign.

How important is supporting local artisans and businesses to the brand?

The more the company grows the bigger the responsibility is. We are committed to continue crafting our espadrilles in Spain, and continue being a positive influence for our stakeholders: both to our wholesale clients and our end customers.

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