By Jan Chaiken and Marcia Chaiken
One of our shared characteristics is flat feet. As children, we were among the very few who, while running around a pool, left footprints that displayed a complete foot with no open arch space. But the similarity in our feet ends there; one of us wears a US men’s size 13 shoe and the other a US women’s 5.5 (Mexico, size 22.5). For the latter, looking for smaller than average dress shoes that provide comfortable support was always a challenge in the U.S. – but not in Mexico.
Shopping for Mexican Shoes
For anyone in the United States or Canada whose feet are smaller than the shoes that local footwear brands bother to sell, traveling and shopping in Mexico provides them with a welcome opportunity to explore footwear in a great variety of styles, colors, materials and price ranges. That’s because Mexico has a long history of designing and creating footwear for a population whose mix of foot sizes differs from what is found in the US and Canada.
Production of footwear in Mexico developed gradually out of traditional work of artisans using locally available materials. Now it is one of Latin America’s major industries and collectively aspires to export to the entire world. But that is a comparatively recent development, as the first exports of footwear from Mexico to the United States occurred in 1951.
Before the Spanish conquest of Mexico (16th century), shoe making was already a creative endeavor. As throughout the world, once homo sapiens decided to stand on their own two feet and roam, there was a recognized need to protect soft soles from thorns and other sharp objects. Sandal-type foot coverings were made from bark, animal skins, plant fibers and, in Mesoamerica, from rubber. The nations indigenous to Mexico were creators of prototypes of the earliest artisan shoes – huaraches, an iconic Mexican style of sandals that continues to be popular today. Huaraches were traditionally made from woven leather strips but now are also of synthetic materials, with a distinctive, open-toed design. They come in various styles, from simple everyday versions to more ornate, decorative options. These shoes are not only comfortable and suitable for Mexico’s warm climate but are also a symbol of Mexican craftsmanship.
The conquistadores (and later their families) brought European design expectations with them and created a demand for footwear that was far more elaborate than simple huaraches.
Charro boots, or botas vaqueras, are also a distinctive style of Mexico. Charros are skilled horsemen who participate in rodeo events, and their attire, including the boots, has been widely adopted by Mexicanos. The boots typically feature pointed toes and high heels, have intricate designs and embroidery, and are acceptable at even formal events.
The Mexican Shoe Industry
Although Europeans who flocked to Mexico included shoemakers who started cottage industries to supply locals with footwear, Mexican shoemaking became centralized as the world shifted to mass production. Consider León, a city in the state of Guanajuato that is unofficially considered to be the footwear capital of all of North America – it produces more shoes annually than any other city on the continent. Nearly every major footwear company in Mexico has its headquarters or outlets in León. How did that happen? Well, León is surrounded by cattle ranches, which provide a large supply of hides for tanning, not to mention numerous cowboys needing boots. León also has a ready supply of water for tanneries. Talented shoemakers established factories in León initially to make rugged cowboy boots but gradually expanded to a wide variety of footwear.
While most shoe stores sell shoes for both men and women, the patterns of shopping and purchase differ greatly between them. In Mexico approximately 70% of all footwear purchases are for women’s shoes. Sometimes you may spy a husband or boyfriend just sitting placidly in a shoe store awaiting the woman’s decisions, and perhaps completing the final purchase. Studies show that approximately half of women’s purchases arise out of desire for style or variety rather than for need. A typical average is four pairs of shoes for work, three for exercise, five pairs of walking shoes, and three more for special occasions. Men, by contrast, generally consider only comfort, durability, and cost when buying shoes. Their wardrobe contains on average one pair for casual outings, one for sports or exercise, and two pairs of dress shoes.
The Story of Grupo Flexi
When we first travelled extensively within Mexico (over 25 years ago), quality shoes were readily available only in major cities, notably Guadalajara and Mexico City. Now they are plentiful even in Huatulco, and shoes can be purchased in other outlets such as Coppel or sections attached to supermarkets. Flexi is our go-to store in Mexico and is a typical mid-range store competing against brands such as DSW, Zappos, and ASICS.
Founded in 1935 under the name CESAR, Flexi is now a multi-national company with stores throughout North America, and exports to Europe and Asia. In 1998, Flexi had 30 stores in Mexico; by 2014, it was 300. By 2015, it was producing 16 million pairs of shoes a year; today it produces 22.6 million pairs a year. With $56.4 million in revenues, Flexi is the leading shoe manufacturer in Mexico.
Grupo Flexi now has over 400 physical stores in Mexico, perhaps 4,000 shops within other stores, and stores in a half-dozen other countries; it also runs a strong online business built on the latest SAP technology for e-commerce. Originally focused on outdoor boots, especially worker boots for men, Flexi now has designers who try to keep ahead of the latest styles and materials for women’s shoes.
Therein lies the rub. Finding comfortable dress shoes in size 22.5 for flat feet is not really easy even in Mexico’s Flexi shops. Once found and worn literally to shreds, they cannot be replaced with exactly the same style since designers have moved on to later fashions and models. The only solution is to buy several pairs of exactly the same shoes and hope that customs inspectors do not jump to the conclusion that they are being imported for resale and therefore are not duty-free. But the good news is that the need to shop for shoes in Mexico may prevent us from even considering giving up our annual winters in our home away from home.