MRTNZ, Souliers Martinez
Souliers Martinez is a Parisian footwear house founded in 2017 by Julien Martinez-Calmettes. Each collection is conceived in Paris and shaped through a dialogue between contemporary design and Mediterranean craftsmanship.
The house draws a defining part of its identity from the Iberian Peninsula: from its gestures, materials, colours and distinctive ways of working leather. Woven constructions, knots, straps, textures and artisanal techniques are reinterpreted through precise lines and contemporary proportions. This meeting of design and craftsmanship defines a vision of footwear in which the hand remains visible and every detail contributes to the form.
The Founder
Trained in industrial design, Julien Martinez-Calmettes developed an early approach to footwear rooted in volume, construction and proportion. After several years designing collections for French and Italian houses, he deepened his understanding of the craft through close contact with workshops and artisans, particularly in Tuscany and Spain.
In 2015, in a workshop near Alicante, he discovered the traditional leather-weaving technique carried out entirely by hand. The precision of the gesture and its graphic possibilities became the starting point for Souliers Martinez.
The house was born from the desire to bring together a culture of design with craftsmanship passed down through Mediterranean workshops, giving traditional techniques a new and contemporary expression.
The Hand
Leather weaving is one of the signatures of Souliers Martinez. Fine caning, tubular leather, knots and interlaced straps are worked by hand in southern Spain by women artisans who preserve techniques handed down through generations.
On some of our most emblematic pieces, leather is woven into broad panels like a textile. This construction gives the material a remarkably soft hand, fluidity and a distinctive drape, particularly on our boots and over-the-knee styles, where the leather naturally follows the line of the leg.
Each pair retains the trace of the hand that shaped it. The subtle variations inherent in handwork give every piece its character, suppleness and singularity.
This exploration of material continues throughout the collections through other techniques and textures inspired by the Mediterranean, from mesh recalling traditional fishing nets to raffia and natural fibres.
The Line
Each model is conceived and designed in our Paris studio, on lasts and heels drawn in-house and unique to the house. Volumes, curves and heel heights are refined with precision to create a distinctive and immediately recognisable silhouette.
Beyond weaving, Souliers Martinez explores traditional shoemaking techniques such as sacchetto construction, whose supple structure wraps the foot like a glove, alongside turned welts and other finishes rooted in fine shoemaking.
Comfort is never treated separately from the line; it is an integral part of the design itself.
Craftsmanship
Each pair is crafted in Spain and Portugal in family-run workshops selected for the excellence of their savoir-faire and their mastery of techniques passed down through generations.
The making of each shoe is built on a close relationship between design and the hand. From the development of the lasts to assembly, from working the leather to the final finishing, every stage requires precision, experience and an instinctive understanding of material.
Our leathers are selected for their touch, suppleness and ability to evolve beautifully over time. They are sourced primarily from tanneries certified Gold by the Leather Working Group.
Produced in considered quantities, our collections privilege the time of the gesture, the quality of the materials and the precision of execution. Each pair is designed to preserve the beauty of its line while revealing, through wear, the character of the leather and the craftsmanship behind it.
Contact
Press office — press@souliersmartinez.com
Studio — 4 rue des Petits-Champs, 75002 Paris — contact@souliersmartinez.com
For wholesale enquiries and to carry MRTNZ in your store, please contact our sales department.
Showroom — sales@souliersmartinez.com