Schoenmaker · Opgericht 1866

Carmina

Mallorcan Goodyear-welted shoes at a price that reset expectations for the category.

Carmina makes Goodyear-welted shoes in Inca, Mallorca, a Spanish shoemaking town with a long history. The house offers a wide range of lasts and leathers, including shell cordovan, at prices meaningfully below the English makers, and it has become the default recommendation for a first serious pair.

Made-to-measureConfectie

A Carmina shoe shop — tienda carmina shoemaker

Huisstijl — schouder: niet gedocumenteerd

Borstomvang — selective handwork

Pasingen — 1–16 weken

Van $450 laagste gedocumenteerde, omgerekend

The value position

Carmina makes a properly welted, resoleable, well-lasted shoe for roughly half to two-thirds of what the Northampton makers charge. The differences are real but incremental: finishing is less refined, leathers vary more, the waist is less closely trimmed.

For most buyers the honest comparison is not Carmina against Edward Green but Carmina against a cemented-construction designer shoe at the same price, and there the argument is not close.

The range and the lasts

A broad catalogue across several lasts (the Rain, the Forest, the Simpson and others) in calf, suede, cordovan and country grains, with a made-to-order programme that allows combinations not held in stock.

The house is family-owned and has made shoes in Inca for generations, which is a longer history than its recent international profile suggests.

Honest comparison

Against Northampton at twice the price, Carmina gives up some finishing refinement, some consistency in leather selection and a little in the closeness of the waist. It does not give up construction: the welt, the leather sole and the resoleability are all there.

Against a cemented designer shoe at the same money, there is no comparison worth making. This is the point at which someone buying their first properly made shoe should start.

The price argument

Carmina reset what buyers expected to pay for a properly Goodyear-welted shoe on a decent last, and the effect on the market was immediate and lasting. A shoe at this price that is genuinely welted, on lasts with real shape, made by a family firm with its own factory, was not previously a normal thing to be able to buy.

The finishing does not reach the top English houses and does not claim to. What it does is remove the excuse that welted shoes are inaccessible.

Met de hand gerande

houdrand uitgesneden uit de binnenzool

de holdfast maakt deel uit van de binnenzool

Herbezoelbaar: herhaaldelijk

Goodyear-gerande

canvasrib gelijmd aan de binnenzool

gemming is gelijmd: het onderdeel dat het begeft

Herbezoelbaar: meerdere malen

Blake

één naad door alle lagen

de naad loopt door in de schoen

Herbezoelbaar: met een Blake-machine

Gelijmd

zool gelijmd aan het bovenwerk

uitsluitend gelijmd

Herbezoelbaar: doorgaans niet

bovenwerk binnenzool rand buitenzool

Hoe een zool wordt bevestigd, en of hij vervangen kan worden De welt in de twee linker constructies draagt het zoolstiksel, zodat de zool kan worden verwijderd zonder het bovenwerk te verstoren. Bij handwelting wordt de rand uit de binnenzool zelf gesneden; Goodyear lijmt een canvasrib aan, en die rib is het onderdeel dat uiteindelijk het begeeft. Diagram getekend voor Il Sartoriale.

Het dossier

Opgericht

1866

Land

Spain

Service levels

Made-to-measure · Ready-to-wear

Schouder