With flexibility, it is time to start off on the right foot to leave your home. But the arch of the confined has become accustomed to the comfort of staying bare or curling up in a slipper. With spring, the solution for a smooth transition is all found: the espadrille. It has come a long way, with a history of over four thousand years, marked by the legendary army of the King of Aragon in the 13th century.
Medieval masterpiece, the espadrille, keystone of summer elegance, is in the midst of a renaissance. The big shoes take it and compete imagination with the materials. If Berluti adapts his Scritto canvas to his Iban model, and Christian Louboutin lacquers the hessian in vermilion, Hermès, with his Trip espadrille (photo) , extrapolates a mixed version, like a moccasin in suede mounted on rope sole. A direction also taken by Tod's.
Salvatore Ferragamo dares an interesting double structured sole. The classic versions are not to be outdone, invigorated by the creative dynamism of Basque houses, such as Ainarak or Zétoiles, and of course Castañer, whose Pablo model takes on a jean blue accent.
It is also at Mauléon-Licharre, in the Pyrénées-Atlantiques, that the young creators of Art of Soule established their workshops, taking advantage of the ancestral know-how of this epicenter of production. For amateurs, provenance is a crucial question. No cheap exotic latitude can be considered. Without faux pas, canvas and rope, the espadrille is never more elegant than simple and rustic.