Ángela Brotons

A lifetime at the service of design and creation in the footwear sector

The Rovers brand celebrates 60 years maintaining its quality and philosophy of daring and courageous products that enjoy international recognition. At the head of the company, as manager, is Ángela Brotons, familiarly known as Geli. A 65-year-old entrepreneur and designer, with a privileged mind that has produced the many and varied magical designs that have dazzled the footwear sector for decades.

With the corporate purpose of designing, creating and developing any type of product and in particular footwear, clothing and all its accessories, Ángela Brotons Estudio SL, as the Rovers brand is commercially known, has been dedicated to the international market since its inception and, coinciding with the 60th anniversary of its foundation, it has resumed marketing its products from Spain.

Rovers was created by the parents of Ángela Brotons, but she soon took over and became a pioneer in representing a company in international negotiations. Now, and after a few months complicated by the crisis that the pandemic has generated in all sectors, the brand celebrates its 60th birthday stepping stronger than ever.

Ángela, with a sympathy and treatment as charming as her designs, reminds us of many of the moments that have passed since her beginnings in the company until today and offers us more details about the quality of her brand and the current state of the sector of the footwear.

The professional and business career of this entrepreneur is extraordinary. At the beginning of it, it was fed by the manufacture in the coexistence within the factory of her parents. She was steeped in product and production, and very soon she showed ease and resolve in directing the collections. For this reason, for years, the assembly, structure and designs of the collection have been made by herself.

Ángela Brotons was, in the beginning, one of the few women who were dedicated to the sector living in a business world surrounded by men. From a very young age she traveled abroad with her father and later she assumed the role of director and executive of the company. At that time she was the only woman who went to international fairs and moved in the business world as a company owner.

Of the pioneering women in the sector

It was a time when there were female workers who came to the exhibitions of the sector as assistants, translators or secretaries, but as a representative of a company, Ángela was one of the pioneers, with all the difficulty that at that time there was for a woman traveling alone around the world. She was very clear that she should work for her employees and for her company and she always tried to see it from her objective professional point of view. In fact, she has never shrunk. She had to take the risk of moving to the other part of the world, with all the fears that she supposed in those times of defenselessness for women. But she did it and she showed herself to be a very brave person and sure of her professional purposes.

Precisely that position of a woman in a world made up mainly of men, led to the generation of some unimportant anecdote. In general, this enterprising woman did not have excessive problems because she took all her trips in a highly professional manner and she herself worried that there would be no slip-ups or anything out of tune. But that did not prevent her from suffering moments of great loneliness.

For example, when she went to a fair, she worked professionally within the same working hours and, later, in her private life, she isolated herself from her because she went alone and was a woman. In addition, she had to take special care “so that no one could confuse me”, as she herself recalls. It was important to maintain the seriousness and reputation of the company.

Despite everything, it is about a woman who claims to have been “very lucky” because she was always treated with respect and the fact of being a woman did not hinder her path. All the manufacturers and colleagues of hers always tried to respect her and offer her support in whatever way they could. That, together with the care that she herself took, meant that there was no moment considered out of place. The fact that she was a single woman could lead one to think that she might have difficulties along the way, but on the part of the male manufacturers she had no problems.

Keys to endure over time

Any person or company that manages to last many years in their profession, regardless of the sector, has qualities that make it possible. In this case, the keys for the Rovers brand to have reached sixty years of life are very simple: Seriousness, commitment and creating a brand of its own that can be recognized by people. Being always faithful to the product, to quality, to respect and to that special attention with which customers have always been served, are other outstanding points of the company run by Ángela Brotons.

But there is something else that makes this brand unique: A very personal treatment towards the client, of which the priority is that they are served and cared for. Other keys are always being professionally giving consumers support from Spain and that they trust the brand and the person who represents it. And so Rovers has been running for sixty years.

If the company has the necessary ingredients to be able to last over time, an entrepreneur like Ángela Brotons also has her secrets to achieve success and stay there for years. The main one is courage. But also that the person has the mental strength for when she thinks she is falling “kick and get up again”, as expressed by the businesswoman herself. But that is a matter of character. Ángela Brotons is a fighter and although she sometimes sinks in adversity, those moments are what leads her to gather courage and end up resurfacing. She does not let herself be overcome by her difficulties, and although she affirms that it is true that over the years she finds it more and more difficult because her strength fails her, she continues to show that aura that has characterized her throughout her life. her business career.

Current state of the sector

Ángela has also had to deal with the current state of the footwear sector, which has little to do with what it was a few years ago. The pandemic has done a lot of damage to everyone. Footwear is a basic and fashionable item, which has generated a lot of competition from emerging countries with cheaper productions. However, the arrival of the Covid-19 has slowed down the sector a lot. In fact “it is quite difficult for us to get up and go back”, admits Ángela Brotons.

In the case of the Rovers brand, we always try to ensure that the philosophy and image of the product and the company do not deteriorate and that the qualities are maintained. It is also important to maintain confidence that this situation will pass and the levels we had before the pandemic will be recovered.

Designer as well as businesswoman

In recent years, Ángela Brotons has dedicated herself exclusively to the collection. The commercialization was licensed to another company. But since last year and due to the pandemic and the little perspective that the licensors had, they resumed marketing from here to be able to take everything in unison in Spain. Production is mostly done in Portugal, but the design and marketing is done in Spain.

As a designer, Brotons shows herself to be a great artist. But it is something innate, since she has not studied. “She just arises within me,” as she puts it. It is a trade that she learned from a young age because she was always at the side of the technical team and the creative team of the company, and she was soaked feeling the soul of the brand. I carry the DNA of the brand within her, and that is why exercising the design of her products is something that is not difficult for her and that comes from innately.

From her head and from her hands, comes the collection that everyone likes because it has its own style, daring and brave. It is the spirit of the brand that Ángela has maintained to this day and she does not want it to be lost.

How is the brand?

The Rovers brand is a type of casual shoe, fun, very colorful and for very special people who want to have something different on their feet. It follows fashion trends, but with its own style and with a philosophy that has been created based on the fact that customers who buy shoes are also daring, special people who are looking for something different. Unbeatable materials and a lot of comfort are used in the shoe, and they have everything carefully studied so that it can reach many markets and many people.

In fact, the company works throughout Europe, the United States, Canada and Japan. In short, Western countries that have purchasing power.

For Ángela Brotons and her company, it is important and transcendental that at this time the brand is resumed in Spain, coinciding with the celebration of the 60th birthday of a company that remains determined to give the sector a strong push and show that it is still here with a lot of desire, a lot of strength and that they are brave to face the future.