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Elegant and timeless, Juan Antonio López creates exquisitely crafted ultra-feminine stilettos and seductive sandals that are sold through some of the best boutiques in Tokyo, New York, Paris and London.

By talking to López, you could be forgiven for thinking that Spanish shoemakers have to be born in Alicante. Although Manolo Blahnik is from the Canary Islands and Camper from the Balearics, parts of this Mediterranean province have a higher concentration of footwear producers than anywhere else in Spain. Elda is one such area and it is here that the young designer has his operations centre and from here he creates his collections as well as lines for international fashion houses including Mango and Kenneth Cole.

How important is it to you that you come from ‘the home of Spanish footwear’?

It’s true I’m from Elda, where shoes are a constant topic of conversation, even at the weekends! That in itself creates a footwear culture which you carry around with you all your life. My father has always been a leather distributor and some of my relatives have factories. In fact, you’d be hard pushed to find a family in Elda without links to the sector.

What role does Elda play today in your shoe production?

I’ve always worked with the same factories in Elda. When I started out I had to set one up myself because I had trouble finding a place that could do what I wanted. Today, there are just four or five factories in the city that can take on small collections that need so much care and attention. We are quite self-critical and for me the decisive factor is quality. We produce just 50 designs a season, a maximum of 6,000 pairs of shoes.

Do you see yourself as a cobbler or more of a footwear artist?

My world revolves around the technical and practical side of footwear. I made my own shoe lasts and heels before I even thought about becoming a designer. As a technician, I know how important comfort is and that a shoe is a basic necessity with a practical purpose. It has to be wearable and its appearance has to match its end use.

When and why did you opt to create a label in your own name?

I wanted to offer a product that wasn’t a slave to fashion, where I’d be free to make the kind of shoes I like. I was looking for something more timeless. That was about four years ago.