Our History

Blom was founded by Javi and Pablo, two brothers who decided to leave everything behind to pursue what we hope will be the project of our lives. Blom's idea began in 2017, but it all really goes back much further. Here's our story.

It all began in the 1960s. Around that time, our paternal grandfather founded a factory in San Martín de Valdeiglesias (Madrid) specializing in making leather boots, many of them custom-made, as well as handbags and belts. His factory expanded rapidly and soon had three stores: one in Madrid, another in Sotillo de la Adrada (Ávila), as well as a small shop in San Martín de Vladeiglesias (Madrid), the place where we were born and where we have lived to this day. Due to life circumstances, he had to close everything in less than a decade, but his experience served him well as a shoemaker and leather craftsman for the rest of his life.

Of course, all of this had a great influence on us. We still remember the summer afternoons we spent watching him working in his workshop as children, and this continued until he retired in the early 2000s.

Even retired, he never stopped tinkering and making things for the family... bags, wallets, keychains, etc. And then came the summer of 2017, when, inspired by artisanal brands that showcased their manufacturing processes on social media (we admired those people), we decided to ask our grandfather to teach us how to sew. Those were exciting months. We took advantage of the afternoons after work to go to his workshop so he could teach us how to make our first items: bags, belts, and keychains, all of them in leather, which he sent us to buy in Madrid because it was the material he had always worked with, although we soon decided to invest in other materials.

Months passed, and we became more and more hooked. We knew we wanted this to be our future; we didn't contemplate any other life. And at the beginning of 2019, we left everything behind to embark on this exciting journey, launching our online store in February of that same year.

That first year, we dedicated ourselves body and soul to the project. Our father owned a small shoe insole factory and let us use a small room to fit the machines we inherited from our grandfather so we could begin Blom's first steps. We reinvested the few sales from the first few months into searching for better and better materials and dipped into our savings to learn the basics of starting an online brand. We took courses on social media, how to create a website, how to record videos of our manufacturing processes, which we had so admired in other brands, and so on. At the same time, we designed, patterned, and manufactured new products, manufactured the items for the website, and packaged them. To give you an idea of ​​the intensity of our days, we were nonstop.

By the end of 2019, sales had increased, so we decided to move to a small workshop in the center of town, the same workshop where my grandfather once had his shop and later his shoe store, closing the circle that has always united us so closely to him.

(Video recorded in February 2020)

At the beginning of 2020, we decided to hire two people to continue moving forward with the project, and suddenly, COVID-19 arrived and changed everyone's lives. We wanted to collaborate from the start. We didn't have factories in Spain that made masks, and after speaking with various healthcare professionals, we managed to find fabrics to make masks. We halted production of Blom—no one needed our products to stay at home—and we focused on making masks at first, and gowns with our waterproof fabrics later. We donated everything we made to various hospitals and nursing homes, in addition to giving gifts to the townspeople during the weeks of curfew. We contributed as much as we could!

Burst!

Starting in May 2020, when people were allowed to go out again, the brand's journey changed completely. In just two months, we went from three people (the employee we hired in February was at home during the lockdown months as she was at risk, returning to work again in May) to nine. We also had to move premises at the beginning of May because ours had become too small. All thanks to the support we received from our beloved community, we experienced growth that was hard to believe.

(Video recorded just after we moved. Spring 2020)

During the summer, everything continued in the same vein, and just three months later, we had to move again to a larger warehouse.

Just before moving into the warehouse, we took a fundamental step that embodies what Blom is today. Until then, we had used polyester to manufacture our products, but since we started Blom, we've been obsessed with working with the best materials to create products that would last for many years at our customers' side. But when you start out, it's not easy to access these types of materials; at least in Spain, it's very complicated for small businesses. In August, we were able to incorporate Cordura, an ultra-resistant, lightweight, and waterproof fabric used by armies to make their backpacks or by motorcycle suit manufacturers, thanks to all its characteristics, mainly its zero wear due to its abrasion resistance. It was very difficult for us to gain access to this fabric; only a few factories in the world are licensed to manufacture it. We have always been obsessed with working with the best fabrics in the world to create durable products that will accompany our customers for many years, and Cordura allowed us, and allows us, to achieve this.

And after these years of struggle, effort, dedication, and growth, came one of the brand's worst periods, but at the same time, undoubtedly the one with the greatest learning curve. Of course, we've failed and made mistakes, and we want to share them too.

Since moving into the warehouse in September 2020, everything began to fall apart, and we went from having eight people employed to being alone again in July 2021, having to lay off our team with a heavy heart.

By the end of October 2021, we were back in the small space where our grandfather had his shoe shop. Time once again brought us closer to this wonderful space that has played such a significant role in our family's history.

Learning and recovery.

At this point, we had only one thing left to do: fight harder than ever, learning a great deal in between. In all honesty, we experienced a growth we weren't prepared for. We went from being two young brothers passionate about creating products with their hands, just as their grandfather taught them, to running a company with eight employees in just a few months.

We learned that uncontrolled growth can ruin a company, that our workers, given our artisanal production processes, need months of training, that we also need to spend a lot of time talking with them during those first months to instill in them what Blom means to us and, of course, the value of moving forward slowly but steadily.

Back at the workshop and once again the two of us alone, we worked tirelessly to ensure Blom wouldn't disappear. We spent months of hard work and little pay (sometimes zero, hehe) to be able to clean up the company's accounts and ensure it wouldn't disappear.

Present

We managed to pull it off, incorporating new products, limited-edition designs, website changes, and countless other things. They were tough but exciting months; we really enjoyed the workshop. Fortunately, in September 2022, we found ourselves once again needing to hire. We brought on Ángela, a person who has become a fundamental pillar of the team. In addition to helping us in the workshop, she took charge of customer service and packaging, and she's the one who puts so much love into these two key roles. She's been able to convey the love and passion we put into the project, and even improve it.

Today, we continue to grow as a brand and expand our team. We can assure you that Blom is here for the long haul; we're more excited and stronger than ever.