Pajar was established in Montreal in 1963. Paul Golbert, having arrived from France ten years earlier with his wife, Rachel, and their young son Jacques, was experienced in the European art of shoemaking. He recognized a niche in the Canadian market for sheepskin-lined boots, and hence the birth of Pajar. Jacques Golbert graduated with a degree in economics from the University of Lausanne, trained at France's École de la Chaussure, and succeeded his father as CEO of Pajar in the 1980s.