Another Spanish Shoe brand - Yanko

[coloRLOw]

 

[JubeiSpiegel]

 

[WiredandTired]

Your shoe knowledge never ceases to amaze me Ron Rider. This will be a company to pay attention to.

 

[NAMOR]

 

[hookem12387]

If I had any idea how the black captoes fit, I'd buy them right now

 

[ademarco]

Is this shoe the same sizing as carmina? 9UK equals 10US? I am interested in getting a pair of the black captoes as well.

 

[bengal-stripe]



Absolutely no relationship, or connection, to Carmina at all.

There used to be. Yanko (which was pretty big at one time) was (at least in part) founded by a member of the Albaladejo family and was thus in direct competition with the family company 'Pepe Albaladejo' (which was to become 'Meermin').

In 1961, José Albaladejo Pujadas, the founder's great-grandson, continued the family tradition when he created one of Spain's largest shoe companies. In the 1980s, this firm turned out a total of one million pairs of shoes.

In 1997, after a downturn in the market when the demand for luxury shoes dropped dramatically, José Albaladejo decided to create a new company together with his wife and some of his sons in their native Majorca. The new business was called Carmina Shoemaker, and its goal was to create some of the world's best hand-crafted shoes.

http://www.carminashoemaker.com/web/carminashoemaker.php?lang=eng

When Carmina was founded it was initially called 'Albaladejo', which was subsequently (presumably on the insistence of the other branch of the family) changed to 'Carmina'. Yanko went bust, maybe 10 years ago. Whether the 'new' Yanko uses the same factory or has any other connections to the old one, I wouldn't know.

 

[RDiaz]

Quite decent shoes in terms of construction. I've frequently seen them in person, but I think they're not worth their price because the leather looks mediocre. If you can get them on sale that's a different story, though.
$275 is a good price, they're usually around €250 around here which is quite a bit more.

 

[RIDER]



There used to be. Yanko (which was pretty big at one time) was (at least in part) founded by a member of the Albaladejo family and was thus in direct competition with the family company 'Pepe Albaladejo' (which was to become 'Meermin').
When Carmina was founded it was initially called 'Albaladejo', which was subsequently (presumably on the insistence of the other branch of the family) changed to 'Carmina'. Yanko went bust, maybe 10 years ago. Whether the 'new' Yanko uses the same factory or has any other connections to the old one, I wouldn't know.

Unfortunately, the story is far more complicated than that........

 

[hookem12387]

The captoes are apparently true to size and a D width, just fyi.

 

[matty long legs]



Absolutely no relationship, or connection, to Carmina at all. Except that the factory is in Mallorca. CSC actually jumped in early, but I am bring the line to market this Fall. Last year my wife and I were visiting the Tarrago factory in Barcelona, working, and the owner said we need to take a flight over to Mallorca (we supply everyone in Spain with the finishing products in the factories) as he wanted to introduce me to Toni, the new young owner, and show me around. The only thing I remembered was some clumsy shoes of moderate quality that were around the States when I was buying at Franco's, but a trip to Mallorca sounded good so we went the next day. I was really, really impressed. There is a long history, which I will not get into nor do I necessarily understand, between the makers there, but this man Toni was very sincere, earnest and the samples and shoes in production were really, really, nice. Turns out that the trade in the Barcelona shops, when we returned and spent a few days shopping, had turned in his direction. I was pleased that they asked us to re-introduce them to the market here, and we are starting soon (we start showing retailers at the Show's the next 2 months).

Anyway, the range is solidly classic, 3 main lasts (one anglo, one updated 'chisel toe' and one 'fashion',,,which I don't get so probably won't be here), the upper leathers are all Annonay and du Puy...suedes from Stead, I believe, and the work is all Goodyear Welt. The finishing was all done on the wheels, no spraying, and the outsoles are some of the best I've seen. Price comes on-line at around $550 and, my own opinion here, they are putting out a product that is superior to most of the UK shoes priced higher.....Yanko is not as boardy and the finishing is better.

We'll see what happens - it takes a year, usually, to develop some distribution for a brand and Spring isn't exactly the ideal time to launch Goodyear Welts, so it may be Fall of next year before there is a broad selection here, but I am putting my name and door knocking efforts behind them, as well as stocking a selection of shoes.

Ron, are these going to be offered at Franco's? Also, I live in Richmond and curious about your company's current relationship with Franco's.

 

[RIDER]



Ron, are these going to be offered at Franco's? Also, I live in Richmond and curious about your company's current relationship with Franco's.

No idea.....I am sure they will stop by for a chat at the Market. Would obviously like to see them there.

They are a client, and friend, of ours - that's it.

 

[UnnamedPlayer]

I'm done with Meermin, keen to give these guys shot.

Need to look into shipping to Aus.

 

[mr monty]

Is Mezlan the largest shoemaker in Spain?

 

[Harvitz81]

Tried contacting CSC to get an idea as to size. Trying to figure if their sizes listed are US or UK.