How the Espadrille Blew the Fashion World Away in the 1960s

Espadrilles, how we love thee:

Stuart Weitzman Fez in lily nubuck, on sale at 60% off at Shoebuy.com

AK Anne Klein Mancini 2 in natural/ivory fabric, $88.95 on Shoebuy.com

Madeline Salli in surt, $46.95 on Shoebuy.com

Brigitte Bardot single-handedly popularized espadrilles when she was photographed wearing a pair while romping around St. Tropez in the 1960s. (She also put St. Tropez on the map but that’s a different story altogether). But what few people know is that espadrilles have been around even before Bardot, St. Tropez and waaay before the 60s.

Brigitte Bardot in St. Tropez

Espadrilles have been made in Catalonia, Spain as early as in the 14th century. Castañer was one of the manufacturers in the area that produced espadrilles for soldiers, workers and peasants. Although the company had been around since the 1920s, they were badly hit by the Civil War in 1936. New technology such as vulcanization made their espadrilles production even more obsolete and by the late 1950s, they were on the verge of closing down. Nobody wanted to wear espadrilles anymore and people at that time preferred the newer shoe styles to the outdated espadrilles.

In the mid-1960s, a designer came to the languishing Castañer company. He asked them to produce a pair of espadrilles with a high heel. No one ever put a heel on an espadrille before so making a high-heeled pair was completely unheard of. Nevertheless, Castañer produced the high-heeled espadrilles for the designer. That designer was Yves Saint Laurent.

From there, the espadrille was catapulted from a lowly peasant-class shoe to luxury high fashion footwear. Castañer is now the premier maker of espadrilles and is one of the most prestigious brand names in luxury and fashion.

Such is the power of a creative mind. Espadrilles are now considered a classic wardrobe staple and with the wide variety of designs available, you can go from casual cool to summer-ready to date-worthy in no time.