The Japanese shoe shine bar chain and shoe care brand Brift H, founded by the first world champion of shoe shining Yuya Hasegawa, is now part of the Japanese high-end fashion giant United Arrows. A great journey that started with Yuya being a street shoe shiner, and a testament to the importance the shoe shine industry has, not least in Japan.
Here we will live stream two sessions from the New York Super Trunk Show today Saturday October 5. See live from the final of the U.S. Championships of Shoe Shining, see the results of the shoe patina exhibition, and get a look at all the amazing shoe exhibitors from all over the world. Will also be available to watch after the live sessions.
This Saturday the second edition of the New York Super Trunk Show takes place. In a lovely venue on Manhattan, on Upper East Side between Madison Ave and Central Park, we’ll gather 15 exhibitors from all over the world, host a patina exhibition, a free shoe shining service, and the U.S. Championships of Shoe Shining. Here’s some practical info ahead of the event, for those who plan to visit, and on the live streaming we will do for those who can’t attend.
Wildsmith was one of the classic British quality men’s shoe brands, started already in 1847, but it was a long time since it had a prime. The original company was liquidated in the early 2000’s, and after two unsuccessful resurrections it’s now time for the third attempt.
Shoes are made in pairs, that’s been the case throughout history. As such, they are expected to look the same as each other. Even the cheapest shoes have rather high demands of a sync between each other, and then of course the higher the price the higher the demand. For a pair of really expensive bespoke shoes it’s expected that they are more or less identical down to the smallest detail.
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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.
There’s been a lot of fusions between dress shoes and soft sneakers done through the years. Now Santoni has launched a new range called Easy that sort of manage to to do it to the extreme, with the most traditional designs turned into lightweight slip-on shoes with super soft soles.
One of likely the newest construction techniques in the world is called Reverse Goodyear, which essentially is a traditional turnshoe, but made using a Goodyear machine. The shoes become super flexible and comfortable, lightweight and neat, and has become a popular summer shoe. The Indian company Bridlen is world-leader in this method, learn more about how they make these shoes in this article.
The American heritage footwear company Red Wing reintroduces one of it’s most requested models – the slightly dressier Beckman boot. It’s made with a Gro-cord half rubber sole, and news is that they’ve switched from the often criticised, hard to break-in Featherstone leather to the softer Excalibur.
It’s not often that men’s footwear giant Allen Edmonds introduce new ranges of welted shoes, but this week the launched the new top line Reserve. Better leathers, a new last and some hand finishing details for this new American-made range which consists of four new models in different leather options.
