Pedro García: 100 Years, Four Generations

Could you tell us a little about the history of Pedro García and what it means to you personally to be the third Pedro in the family to lead the brand?

Pedro García began in 1925 in Elda, Alicante, when my grandfather, the first Pedro, opened a small workshop, working with artisans and developing a very strong connection to the region.

My father then took the brand in a different direction. He travelled, discovered new markets and gradually gave Pedro García an international dimension.

I grew up seeing both sides of the business: the very hands-on world of making shoes, and the curiosity and openness needed to take them out into the world. Today, my role, together with my sister Mila, the company’s CEO, and the fourth generation, is to build on both while bringing our own perspective through design and the way we see the world today.

Being “The Third” Pedro is certainly a privilege, but I don’t think of it simply as continuing what my grandfather and father did. Each generation has carried the legacy forward, finding its own way.

The name may be the same, but the world around it is constantly changing. That is what makes a family business interesting.

Looking back at 100 years of Pedro García, which values have remained at the heart of the brand across every generation?

I would say curiosity, independence and, very importantly, respect for the people who make the shoes.

For us, making shoes goes beyond a particular technique or way of working. It is about knowledge, experience and human hands. For 100 years, we have continued to work with local artisans in Elda, in the southeast of Spain, and our headquarters have remained there throughout the company’s history.

There is an incredible amount of knowledge in the region that has been passed down through generations, while some of it is constantly being reinvented. Preserving that talent and keeping those skills alive is something we feel very responsible for.

Then there is curiosity. My father travelled to discover the world. Today, we travel and look at the world in different ways. That desire to discover, experiment and be surprised has always been important to us.

And finally, independence. Being a family business gives us the freedom to take a long-term view and follow our instincts rather than simply follow trends.

Spain plays an important role in the book and in the identity of Pedro García. How does this cultural heritage continue to influence the brand today?

Spain is part of our DNA, but for us it is much more than a reference to a country or a particular aesthetic.

We are influenced by the landscapes, the architecture, the light, the colours, the way people live and, of course, the extraordinary tradition of shoemaking that exists in Spain.

Elda and the surrounding region are particularly important to us. It is where we have been based for 100 years and where our shoes are still created by highly experienced artisans and technicians. Our Spanish heritage isn’t something we have to look for. It is part of our everyday life.

Spanish culture can be very traditional and very modern at the same time. There is a certain ease in mixing things that many people would think don’t belong together. That spirit is very much part of Pedro García.

How do you balance a century of craftsmanship and family history with the need to keep evolving and speaking to a contemporary audience?

We are proud of our history, but we want to make shoes for today.

The knowledge and experience we have inherited give us a strong foundation, but the role of each generation is also to bring something new.

For us, that means approaching the shoe through design and constantly considering how we can reinterpret what we already know.

Design gives us the freedom to experiment with materials, proportions, colours and shapes, and to develop a point of view that feels relevant today.

At the same time, because we work so closely with our artisans, there is a wonderful dialogue between what is technically possible and what we imagine.

I think that combination of experience and design is what allows us to evolve without losing who we are.

After meeting the Chapters community in Milan, what would you like guests and readers to remember most about Pedro García and its story?

I hope they remember that behind a shoe there are people.

A hundred years sounds like a very long time, but when you look at it closely, it is really a collection of people, ideas, friendships, mistakes, discoveries and a lot of hard work.

We are still based in the same small city, still working with local artisans and still making things with our hands.

Perhaps that is what Pedro García is about: having very deep roots without being afraid to evolve.

And after 100 years, we are still very much looking forward to the Next Chapter.