Camper (company)

Camper

Industry	Fashion, Restaurant, Hotel
Founded	Spain (1975)
Headquarters	Inca, Spain
Products	Footwear
Website	camper.com

Camper (English /ˈkæmpər/; Catalan: [kəmˈpe], meaning "rustic") is a shoe company based in Inca, Spain. Lorenzo Fluxà Rosselló founded the company in 1975 after inheriting a shoe factory from his father, Antoni Fluxà, a Majorcan shoemaker. The Camper brand is marketed globally and has been expanded to the hotel chain market.

History

Antonio Fluxà, a shoemaker travelled to England in hopes of learning how to develop new methods of industrial manufacturing. Upon his return, he recruited workers from the island and introduced them to innovative machinery.^[1] Fluxà’s son was born in a shoe factory and inherited his fathers enthusiasm for innovative shoes and therefore joined his father in the shoe making industry ^[1]

After the death of Franco in 1974, Camper manufactured footwear fitting the new liberal lifestyle that had emerged. In 1975, Antonio Fluxà’s grandson, Lorenzo, joined the family business and created Camper. In 1981 the first Camper store opened in Barcelona.

Camper went international in 1992, expanding mainly in Europe with shops in London, Paris and Milan, and later Japan, Taiwan and the United States In 2000, Lorenzo Fluxà’s son Miquel Fluxà joined the company; he was named CEO in 2011. The company currently employs over 1,000 people.^[2]

The Name

Camper´s name is derived from the Catalan word meaning “peasant or farmer”.

Hotel chain

Camper has expanded its brand into new areas with a hotel and restaurant in Barcelona and Berlin named Casa Camper.^[3] The hotel chain practices environmental friendly methods such as water recycling, solar energy, clean transportation.

Corporate sponsorships

Over time, Camper has appeared as a sponsor in multiple high-visibility events such as the Paris Dakar, the 1984 World Windsurf Championships, the 2006 and 2007 Copa del Rey, the 2010 TP52 Medcup, 2011–12 Volvo Ocean Race, and 2013 America’s Cup.^[4]

References

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