Info on the London Super Trunk Show 2023

This weekend it’s time for the 2023 edition of the London Super Trunk Show. Held in the heart of London at 12 Regent Street, gathering more than ten awesome exhibitors and hosting the World Championships in shoemaking, shoe shining and shoe patina. Saphir will host a free shoe shining service, there’s a second hand shoes marketplace, and more. 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.

The event is as always organised by Shoegazing and The Shoe Snob. As previous years the event takes place at Showcase.co, located just below Piccadilly Circus and Jermyn Street, on 12 Regent Street. The exhibitor list is as follows: Acme Shoemaker, Attila Shoes, Bridlen, Catella Shoemaker (Daniel Wegan), CNES Shoemaker, Goral Footwear, Paul Sargent, The Noble Shoe, Raymar Shoes and Yearn Shoemaker. Also exhibitions with the event’s main partner Saphir (shoe care) and partners Bresciani and Abbot’s Shoes (who sell second hand shoes and host the marketplace), plus shoemaking championships partner Master Shoemakers (book). On display are all competition shoes in the World Championships of Shoemaking. the World Championships of Shoe Shining and Shoe Patina will have its finals. Last years praised news is also back, Saphir will offer a free shoe shining service during the day.

Full schedule for the day:

11:00-19:00 Trunk show open for the public, FREE OF CHARGE AND NO REGISTRATION NEEDED.

11.00-19.00 Free Shoe Shining Service by Saphir.

11.15-17.15 (1 hour break 14.45-15.45) Final of the World Championships of Shoe Patina in collaboration with Saphir, 1st prize TLB Mallorca shoes, shoe care kit, gold medal. (More info in qualification post here)

15.00-15.30 Final of the World Championships in Shoe Shining in cooperation with Saphir, 1st prize shoes from Loake, shoe care kit, gold medal. (More info in qualification post here)

17:30-17.50 Award ceremony for the World Championships in Shoemaking, in collaboration with Kirby Allison and Master Shoemakers. The top ten including the three podium positions are presented. In the prize pool is £6,000 (€6,800 / $7,300), shoemaking awls by Phil Norsworthy, medals, plus being exhibited at Isetan Men’s, Tokyo, and at other places around the world. (More info in the Call for competition)

19.00 Event closes.

Loads of shoes will be on display on Saturday.

Here’s the Facebook event page, all help spreading the word these final days is appreciated. You may read all about the event and the exhibitors, contests and partners in this article, below is some practical info ahead of Saturday:

– The venue is located at street level on 12 Regent Street, where you pass by the Showcase.co storefront and access the exhibitor space. You can also enter from the side street Carlton Street. There is no mandatory cloakroom service, however, those who wish to hang their coats will have a wardrobe space for that (please note that it’s not under surveillance, we are not responsible for what you hang in the cloakroom). There’s toilets in the back part of the venue space.

– At 11.00 we open the doors to the public, and we carry on all day until 19.00 in the evening. Last year we had almost 1,200 visitors, we hope for something similar this year. At times it can be a bit crowdy around some exhibitors tables, be prepared for that, have patience, respect each others and it always work out just fine.

– At each exhibitors table there will be a bench, mirrors and in some cases carpets. All exhibitors will have lots of samples on display. If you try on Ready to Wear models, please only wear them gently on the carpets, don’t walk away with them in the venue. All exhibitors will take orders during the day, and the partners will also sell their products. Most exhibitors will accept credit cards, some will use mainly PayPal for the transaction. In some cases there’s exclusive offers during the day, keep your eyes open for a good deal.

– Saphir will offer a free shoe shining service during the whole day, for any one who wish to have their shoes polished up. This will be done by Marc of Bowbells Shoeshine. He will do quick shines on people’s shoes, around 15 minutes per pair, either on foot or if one is comfortable to take them off. This is also one thing that lures some more people in who just passes by on the street, since one aim with the event is to spread the gospel about quality shoes and all crafts around this.

Saphir and Bowbells Shoesine will shine visitors shoes.

– The patina contestants will start painting already 15 minutes after opening, so at 11.15, and will be finished at 17.15. Always interesting to follow their work during the day, and see how the plain crust leather shoes will be transformed. There will be a break for one hour at the middle of the day, to make room for the shoe shining final.

– At the stage area, there will be two sessions. The final of the World Championships of Shoe Shining between 15.00-15.30, and the award ceremony for the World Championships of Shoe Patina followed by the shoemaking championships at 17.30. The stage area is located in one corner of the venue, just when you enter. There will be bar tables for the polishing contestants and jury presenting winners, and for the audience in front we’ll have some benches, and behind that you’ll have to stand. It will be crowdy, but has worked well also for those in the back to see and hear relatively well.

– All shoes in the World Championships of Shoemaking competition shoes will be on display the whole day. Please, if you lift them up, do handle them carefully, and put them back in the correct position (each shoe will be numbered, since they aren’t branded, there will be signs with the maker and its number). We trust you to show these shoes the respect they deserve. There’s about 30 shoes on display. Next to the shoes, Gary Tok, the author of the Master Shoemakers book will have this exhibited. Do check that out if you’ve missed it.

– We aim at live streaming from the scene happenings at 15.00/3PM (British time) and 17.30/5PM, here on Shoegazing.com and on Shoegazing’s Youtube channel. Unfortunately we’ve had issues last year where the stream went black on YouTube (despite looking all good on the device we streamed from). On Instagram the event partner @saphir_medailledor will livestream during the day as well. There will also be lots of films coming out later made by Saphir and the shoemaking championships partner Kirby Allison, and also as always from others as well.

– In social media we’ll use the hashtag #supertrunk for the event, please use it when you post pics in social media. And it’s a great way to follow what happens and see lots of nice shoes, for those of you who can’t visit the event.

Hope to meet many of you on Saturday, me and Justin FitzPatrick look forward to it a lot!