Hard Hearted Harlot, Fly London, Eject. The names of Portuguese footwear brands tell the story of a sector that has evolved in less than a decade from low-cost manufacturing for the mass market to making award-winning designs for sophisticated young fashionistas .
“Between 2002 and 2005, most of the big multinational shoe manufacturers based in Portugal moved to China, India and eastern Europe where costs are much lower,” says Joaquim Carvalho, part-owner of a small, but internationally successful footwear company. “The industry was forced to give up competing on the basis of low wages and has had to invest in technology, design and marketing.”
