This year we’ll have a Swiss, a Japanese and a Brit in the shoe shining contest, and one from the US and two from France in the patina competition. These are the finalists of the world champs contests taking place during the London Super Trunk Show on May 13. See their submissions here.
You may read all about the London Super Trunk Show in this article, and great if you can visit the event’s Facebook page and let us know you’re coming and help share the event. It’s organised by Shoegazing and The Shoe Snob takes place on Saturday May 13, in the centre of London at the venue Showcase.co on 12 Regent Street. Here we gather 11 great shoe exhibitors, several partners, a second hand shoes market where visitors can sell their own shoes and more. The World Championships of Shoemaking will have its award ceremony and competition shoes displayed. Plus then the two other world champs contest that is the topic here.
The qualification process, jury members and how the finals will unfold is thoroughly explained in this article, so here we focus on showcasing the finalists’ submissions and briefly let you know who they are. Both the World Championships of Shoe Shining and Shoe Patina are organised in collaboration with Saphir, shining contestants shine and can win a pair of Loake shoes, patina contestants paint and can win a TLB Mallorca pair. As usual we had about 40 submissions to the two contests (thanks to all who gave it a go), literally from all over the world, both amateurs and many professionals. It was very tight in the top in the end these received most jury points and made it to London:
World Championships of Shoe Shining 2023 finalists
Albert Gjukaj, Switzerland. An amazing shine with incredible depth, that’s what’s been achieved by Albert Gjukaj, the man behind the shoe, shoe repair and shoe shine shop Mr. Dapper in Lucene, Switzerland. Here one really can talk about a mirror gloss.
Paul Black, The United Kingdom. This is something I’ve been waiting for to have part in the final. A shiner with background in the military and the type of shine work one do there. Paul Black runs Guards Gear who among other things offer bulling services on military parade boots. That’s also what the entry is, an insane shine on a pair of black boots. You can see how the leather looks at the top part of the shaft (which is hidden below trousers and therefore not shined), and the striking difference to the shined rest.
Naoki Hayashida, Japan. What would a shine final be without a Japanese? This time Naoki Hayashida who runs Brift H Sapporo (a branch of the shoe shine bar founded by the first shine world champion, Yuya Hasegawa) made it all the way to the final. It’s evident that it’s a client’s boots, since the shine is more utilitarian done work done for display can be, and one have a lovely transition between the super shined toe and heel and rest of the boot.
World Championships of Shoe Patina 2023 finalists
Philippe Yeong-ha Yang, France. A pair of shoes painted in the colours of a blue sky, which despite some small technical misses had the main part of the paint job made to such high standard that it made it to top three. Philippe Yeong-ha Yang is the main patina artist of the French brand Septieme Largeur, and works in their Paris store.
Alberto Suastez, USA. This is the first American to make it to the patina final (we’ve hade shine finalists before), which is great. Alberto Suastez has a patina service in Arizona, and his entry was inspired by the natural patina that copper can achieve. A lot of nuances, with complicated transitions both between colours and shades.
Rodolphe Baudry, France. Another of the French brand Corthay’s patina artists is in the final, this time Rodolphe Baudry. He’s been doing patina work for 12 years, and it really shows that it’s a person with skill that has created this. Beautiful deep purple with excellent technical level.
Brilliant work by all contenders! Very impressed.
Nathan: Yes great work for sure! Will be interesting to see the finals.