"He was a happy and restless child. So restless that a week before the end of school he would pluck up his courage and run away from school, running immediately to see if his grandmother, a woman he had a special love for, had come home from mass. His hands were always full of dirt, his shoes well shined and his pockets full of junk that jingled at every run, probably eyelets from the factory where he worked with his father, and which he forgot to take out of his pockets every time he came home. "
That boy's name was José Paredes, and this is his story, the story of Paredes
The road did not start in a small garage,
but in a small courtyard.
Paredes' story begins in the courtyard of his home, just after returning from his military service in Rabasa, where his mother gave him the space to fulfil his great dream: to make shoes and be an entrepreneur. Long before, when he already knew what his goal was, he combined his work in his father's factory during the day and his studies in an academy at night, earning his first salaries, preparing the ground to launch his idea, and enjoying his two great passions in his free time: hunting and walking in the mountains.
But the beginnings, like all exciting projects, were not easy. In the context of a complicated economic situation in a country still in the shadow of the post-war period, there was fierce competition in a niche market as specific and reduced as men's shoes. Products such as sports, trekking or casual shoes did not yet exist in Spain and this meant that the offer was very homogeneous and it was difficult to stand out from the competing companies and artisan shoemakers. Problems that only with tenacity, enthusiasm and hard work made it possible for Paredes to take off as a company.
"My father always knew from an early age that he wanted to be an entrepreneur, and he fought with determination and a lot of sacrifice to achieve this".
Francisco Paredes, Managing Director of Paredes
And we say where and not when because more than a date, that day marks a place in José's course, a course that would lead him to discover a new path. A course in the shape of a compass rose that he stamped next to our first logo, a "proto-idea" of our "path" as it symbolises the courses to follow on the navigational charts.
From that moment on, Paredes was irremediably associated with research and nature.
The first pair that came out of José's hands was a pair of men's shoes, a product he knew perfectly well, as he had worked on a sewing machine in the "Casaqueta" factory from the age of 8 to 13. This was a time when child labour was common in the factories of the time, something unthinkable in more advanced societies. As a result of this experience and the money he had accumulated over years of piecework, he began to develop his first prototypes and from there to sell his first pairs.
"From the age of 8 to 13 he worked on a sewing machine in the "Casaqueta" factory. It was a different era, as child labour was common at that time".
When Paredes began to take off, José took a step forward to further improve his product and decided to go for design, inviting Rafael Roselló to join him, a Mallorcan who was brimming with energy and creativity and who gave a huge boost to Paredes' footwear, creating designs that are now the history of Spanish footwear. At that time, Rafael's signature appeared in all the promotions and advertisements of the Paredes era, becoming a mysterious figure with a certain air of a star for designing footwear that was beginning to revolutionise the market.
Men's shoes are a hit,
and we started manufacturing women's shoes.
Paredes' men's leather footwear began to be seen in the shops and its acceptance was a success, as its quality was equal to that of the best shoe shops in the country. And yet José would encounter one of the first major barriers to market entry in the history of Paredes: the limited capacity for growth in a niche as specific, specialised and exploited as the classic formal and casual men's shoe.
But José had a clear idea of how to break this barrier: he had to manufacture women's footwear to reach a wider public, to promote his brand and, above all, to expand throughout Spain in order to achieve the success he and those who accompanied him on his journey dreamed of. That is why he looked for and hired "travellers", which was the old name for the commercial agents, representatives or brand prescribers that we know today, as in many cases all these facets were combined in one person.
The first models he launched on the market were very common, but little by little, with the help of Rafael and his team, he gradually created his own recognisable style. At the beginning he made 1500 pairs a day and sold them for 79 pesetas a pair. And so, little by little, over the next 20 years, he consolidated his business and extended the brand throughout Spain.
One of José Paredes' greatest successes as a communicator was to distinguish between the customer who was going to use his product, in this case a man, and the customer who was normally going to buy it, i.e. a woman. And this was because at that time it was very common for women to be in charge of finding and buying the wardrobe for their whole family. And for that reason most of the first advertisements appeared in magazines focused on the female sector.
In 1973 we launched on the national market,
the first sporting event in the country's history.
And so 20 years went by and 1973 arrived, a key year for Paredes and for the Spanish footwear sector. We designed, manufactured and launched the first sports shoe in the history of the country, the competition model, commonly known as "tennis shoes", unleashing a revolution, not only in the way of relating to this new type of product but also in the way of enjoying leisure. People joined the Paredes movement and adopted a new lifestyle in which they enjoyed their sports shoes by doing sport, dancing, going out to parties, going for walks, etc. The brand became an icon and when you went into a shop you no longer asked for a sports shoe, you asked for a Paredes. Our brand became so popular and sold so much that our sports cars became a "generic", a milestone only reserved for products that transform people's lives and remain in their cultural reservoir.
The "tenis" were a success in Spain...and in many other places in the world, especially in Latin America and Africa, where to this day in many areas of those places they continue to call sports shoes the "tenis" or the "paredes".
Rafael Paredes, Managing Director of Paredes
José was very fond of sports. But he could only find the shoes he liked when he travelled outside Spain. So he decided to solve this problem: He bought some shoes abroad that he really liked and took them apart in the same shop. And merging that concept with his idea of the ideal sports shoe and the great experience acquired over so many years, he created the competition model, also popularly known as "tennis", the first Spanish sports shoe, and the longest-lived model in our history and in our catalogue, a legend ready to discover new paths with you.
"My father liked to play sport, but he couldn't find the right shoes in Spain and had to go abroad to buy them".
Francisco Paredes, Managing Director of Paredes
We are in the middle of the 70s and suddenly sport becomes a social phenomenon that goes beyond the courts and athletics tracks and takes to the streets. And one of the keys to this revolution was thanks to sportsmen and women, people who became social and therefore advertising phenomena.
"The 1970s were notable for the emergence of sports figures who became social and, therefore, advertising phenomena".
Television, already installed in most homes in Spain, sells this lifestyle through sports competitions and advertisements with the brands that advertise these athletes. People begin to align and connect with the lifestyle that sport promises, in which taking care of themselves and enjoying sport is something that complements their daily routine, work and conventional leisure.
The first adverts for the new Paredes sports shoes start to appear on TVE. At that time Paredes made trainers but sold a lifestyle based on enjoying leisure time with the flexibility and energy of sport. A successful combination that set the strategic direction of the company between 1975 and 1980.
In an advertising context where the internet did not yet exist and there was only one television channel, printed magazines were one of the most successful channels of diffusion at the time, and Paredes could not miss the opportunity that this medium offered him.
The success of Paredes de 1973 brought with it not only a revolution to the market but also to the business fabric of the area. The projection of this new product, the people who had training and the desire to start their own way, the professionals who could contribute auxiliary elements to our company, and above all the lack of work, brought with it an explosion and the emergence of national footwear brands, many of them from Elche and by extension from Alicante, and which fortunately today are still alive, active and with the same passion as the first day they were founded.
Did you know that between 1975 and 1985 Paredes reached its historical peak of production capacity?
Factories in Elche, Alicante
Workers
Pairs produced every day
The decade of the 70s is coming to an end and we have become one of the leading footwear brands in Spain. Our men's shoes and new lines for women continue to win customers in the best shoe shops in Spain. Our new sports shoes are now a regular feature in every sports shop in Spain. Paredes products sold an aura of freedom, creativity and personality, and all this with the energy of the product, the connection with young people and sportsmen, and all this supported by promotions in the most popular media.
A perfect breeding ground for success.
And then came the eighties...
Our shoes are energised
and becomes a sporting legend.
1980 was a magical year for Paredes, as it marked the beginning of a golden era that would make us one of the best-loved and best-selling footwear brands in Spain. Our success was based on the sum of the strengthening of our brand, investment in marketing campaigns, a policy of continuous innovation and quality, international expansion and the consolidation of the large commercial network that José Paredes and his team had been creating with so much care over the last 25 years.
But to remain the number one brand and survive this decade was not easy. In addition to the introduction of new competing footwear brands in Spain, there was a really complicated global situation, with problems such as AIDS, crack, the war between Iran and Iraq, the cold war, rearmament and nuclear tests, etc. Although the eighties were a time of many innovations, creativity, advances in sex education, and technological and cultural advances, the reality is that it was also a very turbulent and unstable period.
The beginning of 1980. Tennis, judo and jogging (which came to be called jogging, and later running) become very fashionable. TVE screens are filled with rhythm and colour with the choreographies of televised aerobics. The new law on physical culture and sport is passed. An era of repression comes to an end and we enter a new era of democratic freedom. In short, the perfect scenario for the symbiosis of sport and popular culture.
At this time we launched our legendary "Moscow" model, and sponsored the 1980 Moscow Olympics, taking the brand to another level.
"The law on physical culture and sport of 1980 helped to transform the country's sporting landscape both in terms of physical education and its teaching, as well as the development of sport itself".
And what better way to enjoy the Walls than in the greatest race in the world? Well, that's what we did. We packed our suitcase, put on our socks, put on our Paredes, and went jogging around New York City in the legendary New York Marathon. An event in which Paredes trainers proved to the world that they were one of the most durable, fashionable and comfortable shoes in the world.
The television boom catapulted the brand thanks to the "súbete por las paredes" campaign, now considered by experts to be one of the most successful campaigns in the history of advertising in Spain. Its catchy songs, colourful choreographies and energy connected with a whole generation looking for freedom and the desire to take on the world. The campaign, in which Leif Garret, a Californian composer and singer, collaborated by singing his songs, ended up attracting a large sector of the young public to the brand.
In addition to the legendary "climb up the walls" advert, Leif Garret collaborated in the same campaign, and Paredes broke a new advertising ceiling, becoming a national trend throughout 1980. The younger public vibrated with the songs of the American singer, and we even launched a promotional album where, in addition to his songs, Leif sent greetings to all his fans. The brand reaches here its greatest diffusion in Spain and enters the small club of the most loved brands by the Spaniards.
"The 1970s were notable for the emergence of sports figures who became social and therefore publicity phenomena".
Thursday, March 7, 1980.
Photograph with the Californian artist Leif Garret, his girlfriend at the time, Nicolette Sheridan, and Don José Paredes, at the moment of his arrival at the Paredes facilities, where the singer signs a one-year contract with our company.
The strong entry of these new players on the Spanish footwear scene produced a series of changes in the whole sector, and made all the national footwear companies have to transform their business. So Paredes had to transform itself inside and out. We evolved our logo and decided that a compass rose was not enough to guide us in this new direction. We needed something bigger and more universal. And we remembered the stars that guided travellers in ancient times. A strong, eternal, pure light with the energy we wanted to reflect. And so, a new visual identity was born and a new mentality in the brand: to follow our own course, come what may.
"My grandfather was always passionate about nature, and especially about the native fauna of the different countries he visited on his business trips".
Genoveva Paredes, daughter of Francisco Paredes and Head of the Import Department.
Due to the new scenario that was soon to present itself with the entry of these companies, José and his son Francisco, using their experience in noble materials such as leather, linings, special soles, etc., and their passion for nature and the mountains, decided to take a risk and launched the Paredes line of mountain footwear, becoming, to their surprise, an immediate success. The new proposal immediately connected with all those people who love nature and spread from the big cities to the most remote corners of the peninsula. Paredes had managed to reach every corner of Spain and its outdoor footwear was positioned as one of the most purchased and valued in the country, a recognition that still continues today and is an essential part of our brand's catalogue.
The success of this new collection quickly turned Paredes into a brand that attracted the attention of another type of customer: the hunting sector, a public with higher protection and comfort requirements than amateur mountaineers or hikers, a sector that both Francisco and Don José knew very well, as they were very fond of this activity, and that helped them to know in depth what was needed to make top quality footwear in accordance with this activity.
At the end of the eighties we became one of the major references as a brand of quality mountain footwear for all Spanish hunters. The image below shows a VHS videotape of the time that was given away for each pair sold of this particular line, in which Francisco Paredes appears in a TV production showing hunting-related advice and activities.
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Although at this time we began to diversify our product, we were still launching our beloved sports collections, and as a result of this continuous work to improve our most successful line, in 1984 we launched one of the most legendary models of the brand. The "Estrella", a sports car that over the years has become known as the "Paredes de toda la vida".
A model that after 40 years still feels like walking on a cloud.
El Ganso was encouraged to "climb the Walls" with us and thanks to that shared passion for offering a unique style to our customers, they launched a limited edition of our trainers that still kept the DNA of the Paredes of a lifetime, and also their British style.
Paredes changes and transforms.
We diversify our product.
The eighties are over and the youthful years of the first millennials begin, an era that will always be remembered for the end of apartheid, the collapse of the Soviet Union, the fall of the Berlin Wall, the appearance of the first mobile phones, the emergence of interactive entertainment in homes, the rise of television, the transition from analogue to digital, and above all the popular and widespread use of the internet. A decade of such rapid change that it caught off guard a planet accustomed to long, slow processes, and which we can define as a turning point in modern history.
For Paredes, the nineties were a time of light and shadow. It was a very hard time, because although our brand was still loved by the whole country, sales were dramatically reduced with the entry of many foreign footwear brands, so much so that the spectre of bankruptcy hung over many companies in this sector, including ours. But it was also a time of opportunity, as it allowed us to focus on strengthening our mountain and trekking line, and allowed us to seek new paths and innovate, giving birth to our specialized line of safety footwear, Paredes Seguridad.
Paredes Seguridad was founded in 1997 by Rafael Paredes, son of José Paredes, at a time of exponential growth in developed countries in terms of PRL regulations, employee care and, above all, the improvement of well-being and safety in the workplace.
Rafael bets on innovation in this sector and launches a product that breaks all the schemes of the sector: the fusion of sports footwear and safety footwear. This new line of safety footwear quickly became an essential part of Paredes and created a new path that has been followed with the same strength ever since.
"Paredes Seguridad was born out of the need to diversify our catalogue, our desire to bring something new to the market, and a tendency to care for and protect our employees".
Luis Emilio Fernández Ibáñez, Commercial Director of Paredes Seguridad.
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Paredes changes and transforms.
We diversify our product.
The new millennium began and with it a new era of change that would forever transform the very fabric of society. It was the time of the birth of Wikipedia, the international explosion of Google, the iPhone and the digital music revolution with the iPod and Spotify, the new cinema and its franchises, the Euro, and above all the emergence of social networks and with it a new way of communicating and establishing relationships across the globe. An era with its own shadows, among which terrorism stands out as a cause for global concern, a problem that still persists to this day.
For Paredes, the entry into the new millennium was marked by a strong investment in R+D+I and a restructuring of its infrastructure that allowed it to create the foundations of what we are today.
The company Calzados Paredes (PACAL SHOES) is restructured and equipped with a more modern infrastructure. We increase our investment in I+D+I, and further diversify our products such as insoles, deodorants for footwear, etc.
The Paredes brand is beginning to be recognised worldwide and we are starting to sign collaborations with the best material suppliers such as Sympatex and Outlast, to incorporate them into our Paredes Safety models.
In this year we started to introduce textile products in the safety at work market, thanks to more than 50 years of experience in the textile sector and partnerships with high quality material companies. In 2007 we launched several lines of safety workwear.
Constant innovation is starting to pay off and we are investing in new technologies to further improve our product, with technologies such as Piesconfort, Thermocool, High Dry, and Waterproof, increasing comfort and ergonomics.
In 2008 we focused our strategy on improving the ergonomics of our products to increase user comfort, with ultra-light soles, softer inner linings, and internal acclimatisation systems that position Paredes footwear as one of the most comfortable on the market.
That same year we announced our return to the fashion world, and sponsored the Cibeles 2010 catwalk. For that occasion we launched a limited edition of 1500 pairs of our competition model.
Paredes proposes a new concept to the world.
The fusion of sports and safety footwear.
At the beginning of this decade our brand specialising in safety footwear "Paredes Seguridad" became one of the basic pillars at Paredes, becoming one of the top selling safety footwear brands at a national level, and managing to position itself as a reference in the PPE and work protection products sector.
At the dawn of this decade our team used all the know-how accumulated over 60 years and merged sports footwear, which had given us so much joy in the past, with our most innovative safety footwear, a mix that had a significant impact on the market, as safety footwear had always been coarse, heavy and unattractive.
It was at this time that Paredes launched their new concept to the world and began to offer their new products internationally, in this case in more than 30 countries.
In 2010, and for the first time in the history of the two brands, DYC and Paredes joined forces to create and design a limited edition of trainers, which they called PAREDES DYC 8.
The collaboration, born out of commonalities between the two brands such as their shared values and philosophy of life, resulted in a daring and transgressive sports product, which was conceived for a wide audience as both brands had multi-generational fans in Spain.
At the beginning of 2019 we opened our private testing laboratory. The aim of its creation was to achieve greater control of the quality of our products and to subject each of our shoes to strict tests in order to put quality products on sale that care for and protect our customers while they wear them, always thinking of their comfort and convenience.
"Every day since we were born more than 65 years ago, our goal has been to create a comfortable and safe product, so creating a private testing laboratory was a natural step for the brand.
Rafael Paredes, Managing Director of Paredes.
In 2019 we decided to adapt again to the environment that surrounds us, but this time putting the brand at the centre. A transformation of the brand through a rediscovery and redefinition of its most essential values, and above all a return to the origin of our purpose. A new direction full of identity changes, with which, step by step, we will continue to make our way as we go along.
The new decade transforms Paredes.
Repositioning ourselves in the digital environment.
The second decade of the 21st century begins in the worst possible way, with a global pandemic that means we have to stay at home for protection, a new normality that mainly affects the service sector. Adaptation and the ability to transform is one of the most deeply rooted values and ways of being in Paredes, a path that we had to take again.
We entered the new decade with a strong commitment to sports footwear, and above all to mountain and trekking footwear, the latter being a success throughout the country thanks to its high quality and a product that combined the great experience of these two types of footwear.
We also reinforced the sports, casual and travel lines, bringing new concepts and products to the market.
2020 begins with a global pandemic known as COVID-19, an infectious disease caused by SARS-CoV-2, which transformed the way we live and brought a new normality and way of behaving into our lives. One of them was to protect our respiratory tract from the virus, as its transmission was usually by small droplets emitted by the carrier when talking, sneezing, coughing, etc.
This year we adapted once again and launched FFP1, FFP2 and FFP3 masks on the market, 100% Spanish design, manufacture and material that improved protection for users, this time with an extra 5th layer of protection in the textile that formed part of the mask, a product that, conventionally, has between 3 and 4 layers of protection.
The Vuelta a España is an international stage race that forms part of the three Grand Tours, along with the Giro d'Italia and the Tour de France, and belongs to the UCI WorldTour calendar.
Cycling is a sport that involves companionship, teamwork, effort, sacrifice and discovering one's limits, qualities that it shares with our brand. That is why we decided to participate in La Vuelta during the years 2020, 2021 and 2022, in this case as official suppliers, and more specifically in 3 points:
1. As official suppliers of its sports footwear.
2. As official suppliers of their safety footwear.
3. As official suppliers of their respiratory protection masks.
A very rewarding experience that allowed us to return to television, reconnect with the sport-focused public, and rediscover new environments in nature.
Our brand has always been synonymous with sport and outdoor activity, a concept rooted in the minds of our customers that we want to continue to reinforce and improve with actions such as "la Vuelta", "la Vuelta" and "la Vuelta".
Juan Francisco García, Commercial Director of Paredes.
The global pandemic brought, above all, changes. Some imperceptible. Others were ahead of their time. But no one doubts that our way of seeing and enjoying life and nature was altered by this great global event.
At Paredes we decided to act and we decided to create a digital transformation project that would reconnect with this new way of relating to the world and our environment, through a new modernised digital project, the strengthening of collaborations with online firms and marketplaces or the digitalisation of analogue processes, among many others. A project born from this new approach was "Discovering with Walls", an initiative created to understand and meet those people who make their own way, and who like to explore their outer self (the nature they surround themselves with), their inner self, and their digital self. A new step in the new path of Paredes.
2023 is a very special date for all the team that make up the Paredes family, as it is the 50th anniversary of the launch of the first Spanish sports car in history, the Competition model, the "tennis shoes" of a lifetime.
An anniversary that makes us look back and become aware of our journey. A journey full of curves, obstacles and unexpected places that we never thought we were going to tread. But also of discovering exceptional travelling companions, transforming experiences, and the conviction that we are on this beautiful planet to enjoy its nature, our loved ones and this great journey that is life.
