It was 2005 and my dear friend, Pedro Trapote, a cattle rancher and well-known Spanish businessman, owner of Joy Eslava and Pacha Madrid (now Teatro Barceló) put me in charge of the Commercial Department of Non-Bullfighting Events at the emblematic Las Ventas Bullring. Two unforgettable years in Las Ventas organizing concerts such as those of Shakira, Bruce Springsteen, Miguel Bosé, Maná, MTV...
Seeing the amount of merchandising t-shirts that were sold there in the stalls that were mounted, that was when the first idea came to me and we could say that the seed was put to create a brand of polo shirts and t-shirts to initially sell in La Plaza where I was the Commercial Director and that until then there was no such thing.
As you can imagine, being my grandfather Gitanillo de Triana and my father being the Venezuelan bullfighter Héctor Álvarez, my blood was burning seeing how thousands of t-shirts were sold in Las Ventas from the different artists who performed there but there was not even a stall of anything related to our Bullfighting. That's where “EL CAPOTE” really began, although there were still 5 years left to really complete it. The desire to claim that there was a brand “very much ours” where the logo said everything by itself, with elegance and the utmost respect for what the world of bullfighting meant to me.
At the end of the 2006 bullfighting season, Pedro Trapote and Ramón Calderón left Las Ventas and I created my first company with the experience acquired during those years. “Lógicamente Eventos y Comunicación, SL” was born in 2007, where I am now on my own, holding events of all kinds in different spaces. Of course, in Las Ventas, too. The idea of creating that bullfighting brand based on the t-shirts and polos that different artists made for concerts had not left my mind.
The crisis arrived and even more so for the events. I meet a very pretty girl who was 29 years old at the time named Carolina López and I fell madly in love with her. We started going out and logically I told him the idea of bullfighting t-shirts and polo shirts. She came from Chello Multicanal, where she marketed advertising spaces on TV for channels such as Canal Historia, Canal Cocina, Canal Hollywwod...
There we started with a brainstorm or as English speakers say “Brain Storming” where after many names, we decided to name our brand “EL CAPOTE”. We had a well-known friend design the logo. In 2010 we registered the brand and the logo with the enthusiasm of two children! Year 2011 The adventure begins! We manufactured the first t-shirts, polos and shirts to test the brand at the main fairs in Spain. We start at Las Fallas in Valencia, on March 12. We started selling the first El Capote popsicles! We will never forget it. In a small stand made up of a red iron bar from the Mahou brand and some cardboard displays as a back.
With the photos of our first models that we will never forget: Finito de Córdoba, Arancha del Sol and Malena Costa, like that! After Valencia came Seville, Jerez, Córdoba, Pamplona, this worked!! Upon arriving in Madrid we created our first website and started selling online www.poloselcapote.com Our dream was already a reality. November 2012 we opened our first store on Calle Don Ramón de la Cruz, 26 (Madrid). You can't imagine how excited we were! We worked as shop assistants in two shifts, Carolina was already pregnant with our daughter, Claudia, who, as they say, came with a loaf of bread under her arm. But with bread that she would earn with a lot of work. We outgrew the store sooner than we thought.
Two and a half years later we moved to 46 Claudio Coello Street. A street with a lot of history for me, since my grandfather Gitanillo de Triana opened his bar “Gitanillos” at number 48 in 1962 where I had my communion among many other celebrations. Another sign of those that are not forgotten. The online store was growing non-stop. We began to invest in Facebook and Instagram, our followers were already in the thousands and among our ambassadors, key in all this, we already had such important personalities as HM King Emeritus D. Juan Carlos, HM King Felipe VI, Juan José Padilla , Enrique Ponce, Morante de la Puebla, Álvaro Morata, Sergio Ramos, Guti, Pepe Rodríguez Rey, Bertín Osborne, Emilio José, Ana Obregón, Los Morancos, Rafael Amargo, Miguel Torres, Oscar Higares, Pepe Domingo Castaño…
flagship store
September 2017
The opportunity arises and we move 10 meters from our store to a 300 m location. Who said fear? Year 2019, the growth is exponential and the data of the ecommerce and the new Flagship Store can't be better. March 2020, 10 years have passed since our first sale and we opened a multi-space office, call center, warehouse and photography in Alcobendas to centralize everything, which is a dream for us. The tribute that my wife and I pay to the bullfighters of my soul, “Héctor Alvarez” and “Gitanillo de Triana” whom I was unable to meet due to that fateful car accident, is 10 years old! Gentlemen, there is no one to stop this! Now more than ever: “It's Time to Show Off What's Ours” It's for you.
Create a quality clothing brand with a 100% Spanish symbol, created in Spain, a cape.
The cape. Its origins lie in the cape invented in Spain in the 16th century. This pays tribute to the father and grandfather of co-founder Rafael Dona, "Héctor Álvarez" and "Gitanillo de Triana," who died together in an accident. Both were experts with the cape, hence the name.
Quality rather than quantity remains our priority.
We're committed to the digital market with a global online store, offering ever-improving support and service. We're maintaining our flagship store in Madrid and expanding our sales locations in exclusive locations. All of this with the same level of enjoyment, control, and enthusiasm as always.
We are in LOVE WITH SPAIN
From its art, folklore, traditions, gastronomy, customs, geography, and its people. We want to pay tribute through our clothing, communication, and image to what we consider the greatest country in the world. Our values are embodied by our exceptional ambassador, the bullfighter Juan José Padilla: strength, valor, courage, authenticity, overcoming obstacles, sacrifice, conviction, humility, and credibility.