Fourth-generation Lorenzo Fluxà created the Camper brand in 1975

The Fluxà family had made shoes in Majorca since 1877, when Antonio Fluxà returned from England with the island's first sewing machines and opened a factory. The business stayed in the family, but by the 1970s it faced a commodity market with little brand identity.

In 1975 Antonio's grandson Lorenzo Fluxà modernized the way the family designed shoes and created Camper — from the Catalan word for 'peasant'. The first Camper shoe, Camaléon, drew on the canvas-and-leather footwear worn by Majorcan peasants, and the brand's first store opened in Barcelona in 1981.

The brand grew through design collaborations and distinctive retail. By 2007 Lorenzo's son Miguel was in charge of a company with more than 240 stores worldwide, and Camper had received the first 'eco' label for shoes in the European Union.

Camper grew from a family workshop into a global brand with more than 240 stores; its first shoe, Camaléon, was inspired by Majorcan peasant footwear.

The family's core shoe business was becoming a commodity, so it needed a brand.

Lorenzo built the brand on local heritage — peasant footwear — rather than chasing trends.

Design collaborations and unconventional stores made Camper stand out globally.

A commodity family business can be saved by giving it a brand and a design identity — here a cobbler's 1877 factory became a global shoe label.

Camper remained family-owned, with Miguel Fluxà leading the brand's reinvention, hotels and Camper Together concept stores. The company kept its headquarters in Majorca, and by 2007 its production had moved largely to China.