The fact that shoe trees should be made of wood i something that is shoe interested people get to learn early, since the properties are superior to plastic when it comes to allowing the shoes to dry properly (although the wood’s ability to absorb moisture often is exaggerated, it’s more about it not clogging against the leather in the same way as plastic). An alternative material for shoe trees is leather, which these above are made in.

It’s the Japanese bespoke shoemaker Guild of Crafts who specializes in making these, they’ve had a model for many years while the above one is a completely new updated version. They should be really good at helping the shoes to dry quickly, but have the disadvantage that it’s a challenge to get the fit really good and straighten out the shoe properly over time, as the leather tends to loose its shape a bit. Anyway, definitely an interesting variant of shoe trees.