News – Acme and Modum to the London super trunk

We are very pleased to announce two new editions to the London Super Trunk Show on May 7: Acme Shoemaker, the highly praised Chinese maker of fully handmade RTW, MTO and bespoke, and the German brand Modum who aims at bringing affordable bespoke into the digital era with 3D scanning.

Two from the original line-up unfortunately had to withdraw when the May 7 date was confirmed, the exhibitor Altan and the partner J. Hopenstand. Luckily, the replacements are great. You may read all about the London Super Trunk Show in this previous post, and like the Facebook event page here for continuous updates, but to put it brief, it takes place on Saturday May 7 2022, in the center of London at Showcase.co on 12 Regent Street. Here we gather brands from all over the world, interesting partners, and the World Championships in Shoemaking will have its award ceremony and competition shoes displayed, and the world champs in shoe shining and shoe patina will have its finals. The finalists have been selected, and will be announced in a couple of days. Here, focus is on the newcomers in the exhibition line-up:

Acme Shoemaker

Beautiful butterfly loafers.

Acme Shoemaker was launched last year (read more in this review or here on my second pair), and they have made a huge impact already with their highly refined shoes. Acme is an ambitious project, with serious investments behind it, and supported by the founders of the famous shoe stores Medallion Shoes. It’s a workshop with over 15 people based in Beijing, with Oliver Tang (previously at among others Xibao) as the workshop manager.

Clean classics.

All shoes are made to the same standard (apart from a basic range of casual styles which is cemented), no matter if it’s RTW, MTO, MTM or full bespoke. Here, all are manufactured to the same top level as their bespoke shoes, so hand lasted, hand welted, handmade sole stitch, blind welt waists, real leather heel and toe stiffeners, and so on – and with a refined making and finishing. Welted RTW cost a bit over £1,000 / €1,200 and MTO about €1,400, this is including lasted shoe trees. Of course, a lot of money, but considering what you get it’s still highly affordable.

Austerity brogues with a deep purple patina.

Modum Shoes

Modum Shoes on display.

The German brand Modum is a different player in the world of quality shoes, a brand that aims at bridging together historic traditional craftsmanship with the modern digital era. This with the use of a 3D scan mobile app, 3D printed lasts, and shoes Goodyear welted by a factory in Portugal. Founded by two shoe interested engineers, Milad Malfi and Philip Erik Jahn, and Matthias Vickermann and Martin Stoya of the German bespoke shoemaker Vickermann & Stoya. After three years of developing the software together, and working closely with the factory to have them being able to handle the unique lasts and patterns in an efficient way, a lot of testing and sampling done, they are now just about to roll out wider.

How an order with Modum starts.

When customers order, they use a phone app to make an exact digital scan of their feet. Some personal data on fit preferences are noted, and then one choose the model and specifications as when ordering regular MTO. The last is then 3D printed, patterns automatically produced with their algorithms, and then the shoes are produced the traditional way for midrange Goodyear welted shoes. Modum should especially interest people who have a hard time finding good fitting RTW shoes, but can’t afford traditional bespoke. Price starts at £460 / €550.

Burgundy plain cap toe.