Camper shoes: made in China?
April 6, 2013 1:04 PM Subscribe
Since when have Camper shoes been made in China?
Last time I checked, Camper advertised themselves as a Spanish shoe company, and one of their selling points was that the shoes were made in China. I also think I remember a fairly recent advertising campaign which showed off the Spanish staff from Camper: the head chef, etc. etc - but maybe this was for a different company.
When did Camper stop making shoes in Spain, and why?
Last time I checked, Camper advertised themselves as a Spanish shoe company, and one of their selling points was that the shoes were made in China. I also think I remember a fairly recent advertising campaign which showed off the Spanish staff from Camper: the head chef, etc. etc - but maybe this was for a different company.
When did Camper stop making shoes in Spain, and why?
Best answer: No, same company, Camper operates hotels in Spain. They explain why themselves, same reasons as anyone else: cost and labour:
“We would be crazy not to make our shoes in China,” Miguel says. “The Chinese manufacturing skills are amazing. The quality of their work is far superior to that of Spanish shoemakers.”
posted by wingless_angel at 1:13 PM on April 6, 2013
“We would be crazy not to make our shoes in China,” Miguel says. “The Chinese manufacturing skills are amazing. The quality of their work is far superior to that of Spanish shoemakers.”
posted by wingless_angel at 1:13 PM on April 6, 2013
Response by poster: Thanks for the quick answers! Any idea what print advert I saw? The chef was pictured with some fish. I don't remember the other ones.
posted by gorcha at 1:32 PM on April 6, 2013
posted by gorcha at 1:32 PM on April 6, 2013
To fill out wingless_angel's point: a country's footwear industry may start out by getting kids to glue together trainers, but over time, it'll build up a decent amount of experience and skill among the workforce. If only 1% of those shoe-gluers turn out to be talented shoemakers, that's still a huge skill pool -- a bit like Northampton in the 19th century, just on a larger scale -- and for many higher-end global brands wanting to produce at decent scale, China makes sense for the skill pool as much as for production costs. (Basically, that's the theory of comparative advantage working itself out.)
posted by holgate at 1:43 PM on April 6, 2013
posted by holgate at 1:43 PM on April 6, 2013
I recently bought a pair of Campers and was surprised when I got home to see they'd been made in China. The article wingless_angel links to says that started in 2004, but I feel like still give the illusion that they are European-made. When I bought mine I was entered into a draw to win a free pair of shoes, the twist being they would fly me to pick them up in either Barcelona or Berlin. Picking them up in Guangzhou wasn't an option.
posted by looli at 4:56 PM on April 6, 2013
posted by looli at 4:56 PM on April 6, 2013
This thread is closed to new comments.
posted by The Michael The at 1:06 PM on April 6, 2013