What Is Portugal’s Role in Footwear? Shop Best Shoes Made in Portugal

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In mid-March, I found myself standing face to face with an industrial abrasion tester, which took a sample of rubber — the type that would soon swath a fully built sneaker‘s sole — and repeatedly slid it across a roller wrapped in sandpaper. After my visit to the Centro Tecnológico do Calçado de Portugal (CTCP), a innovation center about 40 minutes south of Porto, I would never again read the phrases “wear and tear–resistant outsole” and “durable traction” in quite the same way when shopping for shoes online. Another revelation: Portugal, that compact country of less than 11 million, finds itself on the cutting edge of footwear, not only making sure the steppers that arrive to your door are structurally sound but figuring out ways to keep the industry moving forward, geopolitics-related supply chain disruptions notwithstanding.

APICCAPS, the Portuguese Association of Footwear, Components, Leather Goods, and Related Products Industries, is the driving force behind all this progress. Founded in 1975, it’s headquartered in Porto and reps the country’s leather goods in addition to shoes: regularly exporting bags, wallets, gloves, and belts.

Chances are, you might already own a made-in-Portugal loafer, boot, or clog without even realizing it, as brands from Birkenstock and Cos to Loewe and Barbour have been trusting its factories to produce quality goods that have garnered millions of fans, A-list ones included, over the years. “[Our] closed shoes are made in workshops in Portugal,” Birkenstock says on its website, and I can confirm that this is, indeed, the case. At Carité, the circa-1995 factory I also had a chance to explore on my work trip, the Zendaya–worn London clog was multiplied and arranged in neat, suede-powered rows: awaiting final inspection.

To embed itself even deeper in the fabric of the American footwear scene, APICCAPS ideated three distinct collaborations for New York Fashion Week’s FW26 cycle, teaming up Daniella Kallmeyer’s ready-to-wear and accessories label with the Portuguese-born JJ Heitor Shoes; as well as the LA-based, avant-garde Libertine with women’s footwear destination Helena Mar and Patricia Campillo’s eponymous brand with luxury shoemaker Mariano Shoes, operating out of Portugal’s Aveiro district. An additional highlight was the fall 2026 partnership between Willy Chavarria and Luis Onofre, debuting at Paris Fashion Week earlier this year. Onofre happens to be APICCAPS’ president, overseeing Portugal’s entire shoe business.

Chavarria and Onofre’s women’s styles boasted materials like goat suede, python leather, and rabbit fur, supplementing their sumptuousness with contemporary 3D printing inspired, curiously, by the shape of toes. White pumps from the collaboration already found their way onto the feet of Dua Lipa for her new Nespresso campaign, complemented by Chavarria’s leather skirt-and-shirt matching set in a striking blue hue. As for the Kallmeyer x JJ Heitor creations, they were given a seal of approval by Chloe Fineman at the Oscars, paired with a high-shine, high-texture Kallmeyer gown.

Here’s the thing about footwear sourced from Portugal or developed with an inherently Portuguese perspective: It fuses the old-world with the modern as seamlessly as a sole is fused to an upper via direct injection molding. In his latest collection, for example, Onofre paid homage to the shoes his grandmother used to wear — coming upon them unexpectedly and, as a result,  going “directly to making something retro,” according to the designer.

“Looking at the shoes at the time, they were very narrow. I don’t know how ladies could wear shoes that slim. So I tried to [integrate those silhouettes] with the new measures of comfort that make up the DNA of my brand,” Onofre tells WWD.

He also traveled back in time to the ’60s for his ModaLisboa (Lisbon Fashion Week) presentation this March, treating the era’s leading footwear trends — namely stiletto heels made out of metal — to some 21st-century flavor. “ At the time, they made the shoes by hand, one by one. It was like making a real sculpture,” Onofre shares.

“Portuguese footwear fuses the old-world with the modern as seamlessly as a sole is fused to an upper via direct injection molding.”

Per the 55-year-old — who previously worked with giants like H&M, Jimmy Choo, Marni, and Isabel Marant, was once named GQ Portugal’s “Man of the Year,” and had his work appear on the likes of Michelle Obama and Princess Letizia — the most vital part of Portuguese shoes are their soul… or sole, if you’re fond of wordplay.

“Shoes are the only objects that have a sole. That’s why we call it ‘Portuguese Soul,’” says Onofre. “The name is appropriate because it’s all about the culture of Portuguese shoes, the culture of our country. I’m absolutely inspired by this heritage, and I always try to put it in my collections.”

“Portuguese Soul,” in fact, is both the name of APICCAPS’ official, biannual magazine and the association’s ModaLisboa runway show last month. At the event, dancers contorted their bodies, breezed through the air, and otherwise demonstrated just how essential (well-made) shoes are to the way we move around in this world, facilitating the dialogue between our individual selves and the ground we walk on daily. Put together by Paulo Gonçalvez and Claudia Pinto — executive director and communications director at APICCAPS, respectively — the spectacle exclusively spotlighted leather-forward footwear brands native to Portugal, including the aforementioned Helena Mar, Penha, Campobello, and Hércules.

Once I dropped anchor at the Centro Tecnológico do Calçado, Portuguese footwear manufacturers’ push towards modernity became apparent: directly contrasting, yet successfully augmenting, the return to tradition that Onofre so values. Shelves there were lined with fully 3D-printed sneakers bearing the patterns of azulejos, or blue-and-white ceramic tiles commonly found inside Portuguese churches and on the façades of public buildings. Just as impressive was learning about APICCAPS’ BioShoes4All initiative that champions sustainable footwear solutions, be it through giving new life to consumers’ worn-out shoes or tapping underutilized resources like cork, water bottles, and fruit waste during production.

“We began by auditing our companies to understand how we could improve processes in terms of water and energy consumption, the use of raw materials, packaging, and traceability,” Gonçalvez tells us. “Through the BioShoes4All project, we have invested €70 million in the development of new materials.”

And then there were all the robots I spotted while touring factories around Porto, working right alongside their human counterparts. As reported by Footwear News in November 2025, the Portuguese footwear sector “plans to invest 600 million euros by 2030 in robotics, AI, automation, and sustainability.” These automatons are working faster than what the human hand can achieve, yes, but that doesn’t mean quality is compromised. As Gonçalvez believes, the pillars that “defin[e] Portuguese footwear” — in a nutshell, making sure products are “well-made, of high quality, and offered at a fair price” — remain firm despite the technological advancements.

“The most vital part of Portuguese shoes are their soul.”

Currently, Portugal is facing hurdles like an uptick in competition that’s prompting a mad rush to dominate footwear markets (it exports 90 percent of production across more than 170 countries), not to mention the roadblocks to distribution that are posed by wars in the Middle East and Ukraine.  

“I think the fashion world is passing through an extremely difficult period right now. We all understand that some companies are not going to survive if this continues much longer,” Onofre reflects.

And yet hope prevails, because the Portuguese are an innately soulful people and, rather than being baselessly cheerful all the time, can best be described as cautiously optimistic. In Portugal, therefore, the (fashion) show must go on.

The secret to such resilience? Taking a page from EVA outsoles, it has everything to do with flexibility, of course.

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Meet the Author

Stacia Datskovska is a Senior Commerce Writer at WWD. Previously, she worked at ELLE DECOR as an assistant digital editor, covering all things luxury, culture, and lifestyle through a design lens. Her bylines over the past five years have appeared in USA Today, Baltimore Sun, Teen Vogue, Boston Globe, Food & Wine, and more. Prior to joining ELLE DECOR, Datskovska learned the ins and outs of e-commerce at Mashable, where she tested products, covered tentpole sales, and curated gift guide roundups. She graduated from NYU with a bachelor’s degree in journalism and international relations. Datskovska reports on changemakers in the footwear industry and how to shop their bestselling, cutting-edge shoes.