Our Story
of handcrafted love...
His 3 sons and daughter have all started their own shoe factories but we need to give a special highlight to Tomás Ferreira Tavares our second generation and whom was the first in the family to establish his factory in São João da Madeira, the city known to be the Portuguese center of the shoe Industry.
His son Rufino Tavares created the still existing shoe factory Tavares & Irmão, place that served as a school for our founders.
Augusto and José Tavares on February 28, 1959 created our beloved ArautoRap.
GREENER World...
You can also be confident that RAP boxes, hang tags, flyers, etc are all made of 100% recycled paper and are also 100% recyclable.
It’s with great pride that we say that we are continually learning and implementing new ways of improving our production to be as green as possible that go several steps beyond EU R.E.A.C.H regulations requirements in order to reduce our Ecological Footprint.
passionate crafters…
Every single pair of RAP shoes passes through a set of handmade production steps by a minimum of 30 separate sets of hands, that make sure that all details are taken care of and that no product is delivered to the market without being seasoned with our secret ingredient...
SIX Generations
of handcrafted love...
RAP was founded in 1959, but its heritage has much deeper roots than that… The family History behind ArautoRap or just RAP, as it is more commonly known started in the late 1850’s with the proud shoe artisan Rufino Ferreira Tavares.
His 3 sons and daughter have all started their own shoe factories but we need to give a special highlight to Tomás Ferreira Tavares our second generation and whom was the first in the family to establish his factory in São João da Madeira, the city known to be the Portuguese center of the shoe Industry.
His son Rufino Tavares created the still existing shoe factory Tavares & Irmão, place that served as a school for our founders.
Augusto and José Tavares on February 28, 1959 created our beloved ArautoRap.
His 3 sons and daughter have all started their own shoe factories but we need to give a special highlight to Tomás Ferreira Tavares our second generation and whom was the first in the family to establish his factory in São João da Madeira, the city known to be the Portuguese center of the shoe Industry.
His son Rufino Tavares created the still existing shoe factory Tavares & Irmão, place that served as a school for our founders.
Augusto and José Tavares on February 28, 1959 created our beloved ArautoRap.
Shoes produced by
passionate crafters…
Inside our factory we don’t produce shoes… we produce small breadcrumbs of love to wrap your kids feet.
Every single pair of RAP shoes passes through a set of handmade production steps by a minimum of 30 separate sets of hands, that make sure that all details are taken care of and that no product is delivered to the market without being seasoned with our secret ingredient…
Every single pair of RAP shoes passes through a set of handmade production steps by a minimum of 30 separate sets of hands, that make sure that all details are taken care of and that no product is delivered to the market without being seasoned with our secret ingredient…
Step by step to a
GREENER World...
More than 90% of the raw materials used in RAP shoes come from local suppliers to our factory, most of our soles are made of natural crepe which are the most organic soles available at the moment and we only use water based glue and finishing products in the assembly of our shoes.You can also be confident that RAP boxes, hang tags, flyers, etc are all made of 100% recycled paper and are also 100% recyclable.
It’s with great pride that we say that we are continually learning and implementing new ways of improving our production to be as green as possible that go several steps beyond EU R.E.A.C.H regulations requirements in order to reduce our Ecological Footprint.
It’s with great pride that we say that we are continually learning and implementing new ways of improving our production to be as green as possible that go several steps beyond EU R.E.A.C.H regulations requirements in order to reduce our Ecological Footprint.
what the numbers say about us
Numbers help us tell you the story of RAP, but even so they fail to pass you all the passion and love with which we hand craft each single pair of shoes…
+
1
Million
produced pairs
+
1
years
of experience
+
1
cold Winters and
happy Summer seasons
happy Summer seasons
+
1
K
sketched and
produced samples
produced samples
+
30
T
Natural Crepe soles extracted
from rubber trees
from rubber trees
Opening year, 1905
Tomás Ferreira Tavares
Son of Rufino, and married with Emilia Tavares, started is own shoe factory in our city of S. João da Madeira (2nd generation)
Opening year, 1905
Opening year, 19??
Rufino Tavares
Father and teacher of our founders, on his still existing shoe factory (3rd generation)
Opening year, 19??
Opening, February 28, 1959
Augusto Tavares
Augusto and his brother José started the factory where all our shoes are proudly produced (4rd generation)
Opening, February 28, 1959
Opening, January 1966
Arauto RAP
This was RAP’s second industrial plant and our current headquarters
Opening, January 1966
start, September 1974
Manuel Tavares
Responsible for the exponential growth of the company during the 80’s (5th generation)
start, September 1974
start, October 98 and 00's
Maria and Pedro Tavares
Sister and brother are the face of RAP on this digital era (6th generation)
start, October 98 and 00's
RAP's logos over the years
1959
1984
2000
2019
RAP's logos over the years
Previous
Next
Our hands produce your kids shoes
A modelist is the equivalent to an
arquitech in the shoe industry...
We need to be able to interpret the stylist's inspiration and sketches to convert them into molds of a real product wich not only will live as a fashion accessory but most importantly are the base for sustaining our entire body weight and correct posture.
We need to be able to interpret the stylist's inspiration and sketches to convert them into molds of a real product wich not only will live as a fashion accessory but most importantly are the base for sustaining our entire body weight and correct posture.
Achieving the expertise of a hand crafted cutting master is something that takes dozens of years of practice and discipline to achieve it...
It's a path that can even be seen as the equivalent to a Samurai jorney.
Knowing and understanding raw materials and mastering your cutting knife as an extension of your own hand is madatory.
It's a path that can even be seen as the equivalent to a Samurai jorney.
Knowing and understanding raw materials and mastering your cutting knife as an extension of your own hand is madatory.
At the stitching department we are considered by our peers as Puzzle experts...
Shoes are made of dozens and dozens of individual pieces that we manually join together to guarantee the seams that your child's feet deserve..
Shoes are made of dozens and dozens of individual pieces that we manually join together to guarantee the seams that your child's feet deserve..
Fire and Ice aka (hot and cold temperatures) are the signature of the montage of shoe production...
That's the process that we use to convert a flat 2D material into the shape and volume of a real shoe... Afterall 3D was "invented" long time ago in a production montage.
That's the process that we use to convert a flat 2D material into the shape and volume of a real shoe... Afterall 3D was "invented" long time ago in a production montage.
Like true makeup artists, it is at this stage of the art of handcrafting a shoe, where attention is paid to the perfection of every detail to ensure that the natural charateristics of the raw materials are highlighted to show the beauty of each individual pair of shoes, afterall there's not 2 pairs alike.
At RAP we don't just pack shoes, we pack bits of love and comfort...
Being in the company since 1966 I can assure that we put all our efforts, love and dedication to ensure that your kids feet receive the highest quality shoes
Being in the company since 1966 I can assure that we put all our efforts, love and dedication to ensure that your kids feet receive the highest quality shoes
