Meet Pepe Jimenez . . .
Our Hand-made Classic Pumps
Shoe Designer from Spain

Before Christian Louboutin, Manolo Blahnik and Jimmy Choo there was Pepe Jimenez. At the age of 11, Pepe began working in a shoe factory called Pablo Medina, SL. His job was picking up used shoe nails with a magnet from the floor and making them straight again. Shoe nails were expensive at the time, so the factory recycled them to save money.

From his first day working at the factory, he knew he wanted to open his own business selling and making shoes. During his tenure at the factory, Pepe worked at all jobs assigned to new employees at shoe factory. By the age of 17 he was promoted to Administrative Manager and sales representative for the factory's in-house accounts.

At the age of 19 he temporarily stopped his job to fulfill the obligatory Spanish military service. After his discharge from the military in 1967, Pepe was hired at the Spanish shoe factory of Calzados Sesica, S.L.. A year later, in 1968, he opened his own busines.

1968 was the grand opening of the Pepe Jimenez shoe factory. Their first production runs and designs were directed to the Spanish market, but Pepe soon realized that the American market had greater sales potential than the Spanish market. In 1972 Pepe Jimenez started his American shoe business venture and by 1979 he was producing more than two million pairs of shoes for major shoe brands in the United States.

During the process of developing his Spring-Summer 1980 collection, Pepe developed a new shoe "last". A last is a wood or plastic form that is used to create the the shape of each shoe size manufactured. This last featured a daring and bold low vamp cut. This was to become the ever-popular Lola/Rossi/Nany Classic Pumps last.

In 1984, he established an American office in Miami, FL and provided his Spanish-made shoes for American customers.

In 1992, Pepe met Walt Stagner (aka Mr.Classic Pumps) during a Las Vegas Shoe Show. Pepe's shoe collection was exactly what Walt was looking for
. . . pretty, feminine shoes made of soft, comfortable kidskin, suede and patent leather.

Pepe and Walt quickly established a friendly, successful business partnership. From its inception, the Pepe Jimenez shoe factory developed the Pepe Jimenez and Amour brand names to identify their products. Pepe's original collections, drawn on paper by Pepe himself, were characterized by innovative design features. The refined, classic and modern styles (pumps, ankle straps, and slingback styles) embody Pepe's vision of fashion, oriented to satisfy feminine tastes world-wide.

Today, although now retired from the shoe business, Pepe continues monitoring current market trends and continues to be a valued advisor to Classic Pumps.