French footwear brand Payote has created a magnetic espadrille designed to help petanque players pick up heavy metal boules without bending down, turning a casual joke into an international commercial success near Perpignan in the Pyrenees-Orientales department.
The handmade canvas shoe features a small magnet tucked inside a side pocket that attracts steel petanque balls, sparing players from physical strain during matches. The footwear also includes a dedicated pocket to hold the wooden target ball, known as a cochonnet, as well as a built-in measuring ruler to settle disputed points on the court.
In the town of Bompas, located in the Pyrenees-Orientales department in southern France, local boules players tested the shoes during summer games. Standard gameplay requires constant bending that can strain the knees and back, particularly in hot weather reaching 35 degrees Celsius. While some competitors traditionally carry a separate magnetic string to retrieve their boules, one local player in Bompas noted that bending down hurts the knees but remains an accepted risk of the game, while another player admitted that using the magnet is mostly about avoiding unnecessary effort in the heat.
Petanque is a traditional French boules sport played by millions, where competitors aim to roll or throw heavy metal balls as close as possible to a small wooden target ball. Espadrilles are casual, lightweight shoes with canvas uppers and woven jute rope soles that have been handcrafted across southern France and Catalonia for centuries.
Viral Success and Global Demand
The magnetic espadrille originated as a lighthearted joke between friends at a workshop near Perpignan. Olivier Gelly, the founder and president of the Payote brand, built an initial prototype that was never intended for commercial sale. However, interest exploded after a video demonstrating the magnetic footwear went viral online, accumulating more than 40 million views across social media platforms.
Following the video's viral spread, Gelly said that his company began receiving more than five phone calls a day at its offices from prospective buyers in the United States, Canada, Germany, and across the globe. Gelly noted that he had not anticipated such widespread international interest from a simple prototype.
To meet the sudden surge in global demand, Payote launched full-scale handmade production at its workshop in southern France. Nearly 8,000 pairs of the petanque shoes now leave the facility each week. As a prominent symbol of French artisan manufacturing, the model has proven particularly popular abroad, with 40 percent of total sales shipped to the United States.
Store Sales and New Product Launch
The petanque espadrilles have quickly become the primary attraction at Payote's flagship retail store. Customers have traveled specifically to buy the footwear as gifts, including a couple who purchased a pair equipped with the magnet and cochonnet pocket for their stepson at a price of 69.90 euros. The male buyer described the product as brilliant, while his wife expressed confidence that the design would inspire similar innovations across sports clubs.
Local players in Bompas who tried the shoes during demonstrations immediately adopted them. One player remarked that the magnetic pocket changes everything during play, while a young female player added that the shoes were both attractive and pleasant to wear.
Following the success of its petanque footwear, the French brand has introduced a new aperitif model featuring an integrated bottle opener built into the shoe for post-game celebrations.
