World Championships of Shoemaking 2025 – Call for competition

Time for the sixth edition of the World Championships of Shoemaking, where the final takes place during the London Super Trunk Show on May 10 2025. In the prize pool we have £6,000 (€7,000 / $7,400), handmade shoemaking awls, and a chance to be showcased in shoe stores around the world. This year a double monk strap is to be made for the competition. Here’s all the info about the contest.

The World Championships of Shoemaking is organised by Shoegazing, The Shoe Snob blog, and Kirby Allison, the latter also financially support the contest, together with support from and the book project Master Shoemakers and Parker Schenecker (the brother of the co-founder of the contest, shoe enthusiast Edmund Schenecker, who passed away in 2021). The contest has been a huge success and has meant invaluable attention both for individual shoemakers and the shoemaking craft, for example this year BBC News covered it in a feature showcased for millions of people around the world.

First round was won by the German Patrick Frei, in 2019 the UK-based Swede Daniel Wegan took the crown, with Christophe, 2022 was the year Wataru Shimamoto of Japan won, in 2023 we had Frenchman Athanase Sephocle of Berluti as winner, and finally this year Ken Hishinuma from Japan won, runner up was his countryman Hiroshi Takagi, with Chinese Aria Badia in 3rd. The top shoes in these contests have been real masterpieces worthy to be showcased in museums, and has certainly helped push the bar again for what can be achieved when making shoes by hand.

The entries this year being showcased for the over 1,300 visitors of the London super trunk in May.

The top three shoes each year go on a world tour to no less than ten locations around the world. In Tokyo they will be displayed at one of the largest department stores in the world, Isetan Shinjuku in the Isetan Men’s building. In autumn we’ll host an event with me and the top makers, and they’ll also be showcased at Hankyu Men’s in Osaka during the Japanese shoe shine championships final.

The fact that shoe lovers around the world has the chance to admire the craftsmanship, and people who don’t know much about shoes have discovered what can be done, is an important aspect of the contest. Media coverage has been great, apart from the BBC feature already mentioned we’ve had features in other large global media like Nikkei International and a lot of domestic media. We’re also very happy of the fact that the industry have acknowledged the competition, and that we continuously see also famous names and people from big companies enter as well as small single independent makers.

We’ve seen that quite a few who register for the contest don’t have time to finish the shoe, therefore we introduce the Call for competition earlier this year and skip the potential first qualification round, so makers will have almost eight months to work on their entry.
Worth noting is that we who organise this make no money on it at all, everything we get from the partners goes directly to the prize sum, to the shoemakers.

Around 100 years ago there were numerous of prestigious shoemaking competitions around the world. These competitions pushed the shoemakers in their craft, made them create amazing stuff which not necessarily would be ideal for actual use, but incredible as showpieces. With the World Championships of Shoemaking, aim was to bring back some of this. And at the same time, do our best to show the competition shoes for a wide audience, something that can be a positive thing for the industry and the specific brands / makers. And it’s been evident that placing high in the contest have meant very positive things for the makers in terms of recognition and new customers. For some, the contest has even been vital in making it possible for them to continue their shoemaking careers.

This year’s three top shoes, when a full strap loafer was to be made.

The top three boots from last year on display during an event at the huge department store Isetan Men’s in Shinjuku, Tokyo, Japan.

The 2022 top contest shoes on display at Isetan.

The top three shoes from 2019 on the their world tour, here at Medallion Shoes in Shanghai. Picture: Medallion Shoes

The top three shoes from the first year, here at Unipair in Seoul, South Korea. Picture: Unipair

Now it’s time for the sixth round. Below in the official call for competition you can find all the details on how it unfolds, and for bespoke shoe brands or people who work with making shoes, how to enter the world championships. But to summarise it, the contestants will make a dark brown double monk strap, with a leather sole, hand welted with handmade sole stitching. The criteria that will be judged are the degree of difficulty and the execution of the making, and the overall design/aesthetics. It’s the most modern base model we’ve used for the contest, and first one that include buckles, we look forward to see what the makers entering will come up with.

The base model this year is a cap toe double monk strap in dark brown calf. As always we expect to see nice design interpretations of this, even if we this year don’t accept brogueing only decorative stitching. But a lot can be done only with pattern, as long as guidelines are followed. Picture: Yohei Fukuda

A different way to sort the buckles. Picture: John Lobb

The buckles is also something one can work with designwise, if one wish to. Picture: Spigola

A sleek version. Picture: Riccardo Bestetti

1st prize is £3,000, 2nd £2,000 and 3rd £1,000, they receive one handmade awl by Phil Norsworthy, medals, plus all podium placed shoes will be exhibited as usual in various locations around the world, similar to previous tours. When the contest is over all shoes will be sent back to the shoemakers and can be used as sample display shoes (for top three after the tour). On Shoegazing and The Shoe Snob and in our social media channels we will also showcase all entries in the world championships, and Kirby Allison will do films on the contest on his Youtube channel.

We hope to continue to get a wide variety of brands and shoemakers entering the competition this time as well. Both larger, more established firms and smaller less known one-man operations, which has been the case every year. To enter the competition, you need to register by sending an e-mail to shoegazingblog@gmail.com no later than January 31 2025. Any questions about the competition can also be sent here (do read the Call for competition found below carefully first though).

Ken Hishinuma, world champion 2024. Picture: Khish the Work

We do know that there can be discussions on how this type of competition is set up and how it’s judged, but hope that most people continue to understand that what we do here and judge here is what is stated in this text below (for example, wearability is not a criteria, since it’s more or less impossible to draw the line of what is wearable or not, and it’s the craftsmanship of the shoes that are in focus since fit is more or less impossible to judge, and it’s not something that is especially thrilling to make a contest around).

In the jury who will review the shoes are several bespoke shoemakers and professionals within the industry, the preliminary jury members are shoemakers Jean-Michel Casalonga (head lastmaker and manager of Berluti’s Paris bespoke workshop) , William Laborde (bespoke shoemaker based in London, runs his brand Efe Laborde, plus do outwork), Emiko Matsuda (Japanese maker based in the UK, runs her own brand, previously many years at Foster & Son), Masaru Okuyama (Japanese bespoke shoemaker, previously based in Hong Kong, now in the UK), Sebastian Tarek (independent shoemaker who previously have done outwork for many of the London West End firms), Saskia Wittmer (bespoke shoemaker based in Florence, Italy) and Daniel Wegan (previous world champion, of Catella Shoemaker).  To also add a slightly different view we have shoe experts Jesper Ingevaldsson of Shoegazing, Justin FitzPatrick of The Shoe Snob and Kirby Allison of Kirbyallison.com part of the jury, and the sponsor who are making this contest possible (together with Parker Schenecker) Gary Tok, author of Master Shoemakers.

The final of the World Championships of Shoemaking will take place at the next London Super Trunk Show, which is on Saturday May 10 2025, at the regular spot Showcase.co on Regent Street just below Piccadilly Circus. Stay tuned for more info about the event later on. The super trunk will as previous times gather up to 15 exhibitors from all over the world, and it will among other things host the final in the World Championships of Shoe Shining and also World Championships of Shoe Patina. So mark May 10 in your calendar straight away, start looking into travels, etc. And as always, please help us spread the word about the contest!

WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS OF SHOEMAKING 2025 – OFFICIAL CALL FOR COMPETITION

Criteria for shoe:
– Cap toe double monk strap model, with two straps made of the same piece of leather that covers the facing, attached to two buckles, 2-4 pieces of leather, decorative stitching is okay but not necessary, no brogueing or punched holes.
– One left shoe, size UK8 (or corresponding size), maximum 2 width sizes up or down from an acceptable standard width.
– Smooth dark brown calf leather, box calf or aniline dyed, no patina.
– Leather sole.
– Hand welted, handmade sole stitch. The shoe has to have a 270° welt, so there has to be a waist and the welt with the sole stitching should go all the way to back the heel (although it can of course be hidden blind welt at the waist).
– Dark brown sole and heel edges, natural coloured bottom (decorations with for example wheels or nails are ok, but no dye or burnish).
– Finished inside of the shoe, with sock lining etc.
– No branding.
– Due to practical reasons, we may not fully remove potential shoe trees for the jury review, but the shoe trees won’t be part of the judging.

Errors in respect to the above specifications will result in deductions of points, 5% deduction of total points for small errors, 10% deduction of total points on larger errors. If the shoe does not follow specifications at all, it can be disqualified. Jury decisions on the above cannot be overruled.

Competitors can enter both as a company or as a person. All persons that have been part in the making of the shoe should be stated, and which process(es) each person have made.

Criteria that will be judged:
Degree of difficulty (maximum 10 points per jury member)
Jury look at how complicated construction methods that have been used, how advanced they have been built both in large and in smaller details, etc.
Execution (maximum 10 points)
Jury look at how well the various parts of the shoe construction have been made, how neat and clean the work is, how well executed the level of finishing is, etc.
Design / aesthetics (maximum 5 points)
Jury look at the overall aesthetics of the shoe, proportions, balance etc.

Prizes:
1st prize: £3,000. Handmade awl. Gold medal. Shoe showcased at shoe stores around the world.
2nd prize: £2,000. Handmade awl. Silver medal. Shoe showcased at shoe stores around the world.
3rd prize: £1,000. Handmade awl. Bronze medal. Shoe showcased at shoe stores around the world.

How to enter the competition:
Competitors who wish to enter the contest need to register to shoegazingblog@gmail.com no later than January 31 2025, send in name / brand under which you wish to enter. Only one entry per competitor. It’s free of charge to enter the competition. For any questions, send an e-mail to the address above. We encourage brands/makers to take pictures of the making process to be shared after the final on May 10 (but the shoe cannot be shown to the public prior to the event).

Judging process and award ceremony:
The final shoes needs to arrive in London no later than Wednesday May 7, and have to be shipped so that no customs etc. end up on us. The shoes will be presented anonymously*. Note that due to this, competing shoemakers can not show the competition shoes in for example social media until May 10, and they cannot reveal that they are entering the contest.

The jury review of the shoes will take place on Friday May 9. The shoes will all be displayed during the London Super Trunk Show event on Saturday May 10, where the award ceremony will take place at 5.30pm. Then the world champion of shoemaking and the podium places will be announced (competitors don’t have to be on site themselves, though of course always great when contestants are present in London), with the full top ten list (the other positions will be revealed later). All competition shoes will also be showcased on Shoegazing and The Shoe Snob’s blogs, top shoes will be featured on Kirby Allison’s YouTube channel, and many of them in our social media channels.

The jury (preliminary):
Jean-Michel Casalonga, bespoke shoemaker at Berluti
William Laborde, bespoke shoemaker
Emiko Matsuda, bespoke shoemaker
Masaru Okyuama bespoke shoemaker
Sebastian Tarek, bespoke shoemaker
Saskia Wittmer, bespoke shoemaker
Kirby Allison, sponsor, founder of the Kirby Allison store
Gary Tok, sponsor, author of Master Shoemakers
Jesper Ingevaldsson, Shoegazing
Justin FitzPatrick, The Shoe Snob

The jury decision cannot be overruled.

The shoes will be returned to the contestants and can be used as display shoes (for top three, after the tour around the world). In the case they need to be shipped back, the contestant need to sort the return shipping with a pre-paid return shipping label.

*Jesper Ingevaldsson of Shoegazing will know who enters the contest, due to him taking care of the registration and answering questions. For all others part of the jury, the shoes will be strictly anonymous.