The huge shoe event New York Super Trunk Show is back for its second edition on Saturday October 5. On central Manhattan more than 15 exhibitors from around the world will showcase, we’ll have the U.S. Championships of shoe shining, shoe patina exhibition, a free shoe shining service, and much more. Here’s all info about the event.
Location: The Kosciuszko Foundation, 15 E 65th St, New York
Date: Saturday October 5 2024
Full schedule for the day:
11.00am-6.30pm Trunk show open for the public, FREE OF CHARGE AND NO REGISTRATION NEEDED. Exhibitions with:
Platinum sponsors
Saphir (shoe care)
Bridlen (shoes)
Gold sponsors
Acme (shoes)
CNES (shoes)
Vogel (shoes)
Silver sponsors
Blk Brd (shoes)
Charles Paige Atelier (clothes)
Divij Bespoke (clothes)
Francis Waplinger (shoes)
Ichigo Ichie (shoes)
Majordome (shoes)
Optimo (hats)
Raymar (shoes)
Yearn (shoes)
Godka will serve drinks during the day.
On display are also the top three shoes in the World Championships of Shoemaking 2024, and winner in the World Championships of Shoe Patina.
11.00am-6.30pm Free shoe shining service by Saphir.
11.15am-5.15pm (1 hour break 2.45-3.45pm) Shoe patina exhibition in collaboration with Saphir and Bridlen Shoemaker.
3.00-3.30pm Final of the U.S. Championships in Shoe Shining in cooperation with Saphir and Bridlen Shoemaker, 1st prize shoes from Bridlen, Saphir shoe care kit, gold medal (More info in qualification post here)
6.30pm Event closes.
Here’s the Facebook event page where you’ll get all the latest updates. We highly appreciate any help with spreading the word about the event! The hashtag used before, during and after the event in social media is #supertrunk.
The New York Trunk Show takes place at The Kosciuszko Foundation on 15 E 65th St on Manhattan, close to Central Park on Upper East Side. The venue received a lot of praise last year for its great atmosphere. It’s a beautiful space, an old building, multi-level with several rooms, where we have a stage area in centre and then exhibitors spread out. We’ll have the liqueur company Godka serving drinks during the day. The event is organised by Justin FitzPatrick of The Shoe Snob blog, Jesper Ingevaldsson of Shoegazing and Kirby Allison.
The entrance hall where the patina exhibition and the shine contest takes place. This year there will also be a free shoe shining service here, hosted by Saphir.
The event is open for everyone with no registration needed, between 11.00am-6.30pm. Last year there was a terrible weather during the day, still about 1,200 people came to try, buy and order shoes and clothes, meet fellow shoe aficionados, see the scene events and had a great time. This year, we hope the weather will be better and hopefully even more people will show up.
Below we’ll present all the exhibitors, but first, let’s talk about the stage area where some of the event’s highlights will take place. It starts straight after we’ve opened the doors, at 11.15am, with the a shoe patina exhibition, organised in collaboration with Saphir and Bridlen. There Greg Park of Han Core Patina, Chris Dillon of American Patina, and Alberto Suastez of Patina Works Arizona will house during the day. They’ll paint a pair of Bridlen crust leather adelaides, using Saphir products. They’ll also talk to visitors on shoe patina and shoe care.
From the shine final last year, with the winner Levi Elliott in the middle. He will be part of the jury this year, together with among others Preston Soto of The Elegant Oxford.
In the afternoon at 3pm we have the final of the U.S. Championships of Shoe Shining, also this in collaboration with Saphir and Bridlen. Three finalists who have made it through the qualifications will have a Bridlen plain cap toe oxford in medium brown, a can of Saphir Medaille d’Or Pate de Lux and one can of Mirror Gloss, water, brush and polishing cloth and have 20 minutes to shine the shoe as lovely as possible. Winner gets the shoes, a Saphir shoe care package and of course a gold medal. Qualifications are open until August 11, so you can still make it to the final, all info here in this article.
New for this year is that Saphir will host a free shoe shining service at the event, where visitors can have their shoes shined. Here you can both see professionals at work, but also ask questions and get great advice on shoe care in general and shining shoes in particular. We’re sure this will be as appreciated as it’s been when Saphir has offered this service at the London event.
A free shoe shining service will be offered for the visitors.
Please follow the Facebook page for the event here where you’ll get all the latest updates, let us know you plan to attend and spread the word. We look forward to another great American super trunk show gathering people interested in classic men’s shoes and clothes from all over the country and abroad.
Looking forward to see many of you in New York on Saturday October 5, mark your calendars, book your flights, start preparing – it’s a day not to miss!
Below info about all the companies that will exhibit and make this a great event.
Platinum sponsors
Saphir
Saphir is generally considered to be produce the world’s best shoe care, especially the top Medaille d’Or range is what all other shoe care brands are compared to. It all started with a perfect shoe cream introduced in 1925, where the original recipe is still in use, and since then they have continued to expand the range to one of the widest selections available.
Saphir’s products obviously achieve a great result, otherwise they wouldn’t be so popular, but they also stand out on being easy to use. All Medaille d’Or products contain only natural products: beeswax, carnauba wax, essence of turpentine, lanolin, mink oil, neatsfoot, vegetal materials and so on. In the USA, they are represented by their distributor SoleTech. Read more about Saphir in this article covering a visit to their factory.
Bridlen
Our main shoe sponsor of the event is Bridlen from India. In recent years they have been leading the way in setting India’s manufacturing of welted footwear on the map worldwide, with solid well-made shoes with great materials offered at a great price point. Bridlen has run their own shoe factory for almost 40 years, and collaborated with the people behind introducing Meermin in Japan (which was their first market) when starting the factory’s own brand.
One thing Bridlen is known for is that they make Goodyear welted shoes with the welt seam made directly to a thick full leather insole, the old traditional way without gemming (a canvas rib glued to the insole). They also make the uppers more similar to how bespoke shoes are made, with real leather backings etc. Prices start at around $250 offering a lot of bang for the buck. Read more about Bridlen in this review.
Gold sponsors
Acme
Acme is surely the most acclaimed brand of all the newcomers in the sphere of welted men’s shoes coming out of China. With backing from the people behind Medallion Shoes they’ve built up a big, well trimmed workshop with over 15 people in Beijing. They have a more basic range called Marvel, which still is fully handmade, priced at $900. Apart from this, all shoes are made to the same absolute top standard same as bespoke, no matter if it’s RTW, MTO, MTM or full bespoke. There things start at $1,500. Read more about Acme in this review.
CNES
CNES is one of Vietnam’s largest manufacturers of Goodyear welted shoes, who are well-established in some Asian markets, and in recent years they are making their way into Europe and the US. CNES has a wide range of shoes, all from dressy sleek models with patina to chunky workwear boots, and manage to make all of them in a great looking way. They have shoes made with Blake, Goodyear, hand welted and Norvegese constructions. The Goodyear welted ones start at $280, and for a bit more you can get their fine hand models.
Vogel
Vogel is one of the oldest remaining shoe and bootmakers in the US. They undergo a renaissance under new ownership, who has invested in an impressive store and workshop on central Manhattan, close to Times Square. The ambition is to create a new American powerhouse for custom made shoes and boots. They started with their equestrian boots, now they are taking steps with their classic men’s shoes and boots, and joining the super trunk is part of this journey. If you’re after top quality handmade American shoes, Vogel is a brand to watch.
Silver sponsors
Blk Brd
Blk Brd from India is offering hand welted shoes and boots at seriously amazing prices. You can get their fully handmade stuff from as low as $140 (!). They have workwear boots, Shell cordovan loafers, seamless wholecuts, spiral wholecut and much more. Blk Brd has its own factory in Agra in the north parts of India, and the international shoe aficionados have started to acknowledge the brand more and more.
Charles Paige Atelier
Charles Paige Atelier was founded by Samantha Leder and Lewis Malivanek in 2019 in New York. They have a combined 15 years experience in the high-end fashion industry, a passion of which they both share, and therefore decided to start their own venture in. They offer both semi-handmade and fully handmade bespoke tailoring, as well as customised shirts, knitwear, denim and outerwear, not only for men but also women.
Divij Bespoke
The tailoring firm Divij Bespoke was a popular exhibitor last year, and now they are back. Their foundation is classic men’s tailoring, and then to achieve the absolute best possible fit. Apart from showrooms in Costa Mesa, CA, and Hong Kong, they travel around the US regularly, and customers also have possibility to sort measurements and fittings remotely.
Francis Waplinger
Brooklyn-based Francis Waplinger has learned shoemaking in Italy at Angelo Imperatrice and Roberto Ugolini, and trained with Hungarian/American Marcell Mrsan. He strives to preserve the craft and tradition of artisan shoemaking, offering American made full bespoke shoes in the classic Italian tradition. Aim is to achieve something highly special and personal for each customer.
Ichigo Ichie
Ichigo Ichie is a brand is founded by the Vietnamese Lee Trung, who has lived in Japan for many years where he learned shoemaking and started offering highly affordable bespoke, MTM and MTO. He now also has a RTW range made in his home country, where he has put together a small team of established makers who produce the range. The fully handmade RTW starts at just $500.
Majordome
The Swiss brand Majordome is a breath of fresh air on the men’s quality shoe scene. Sure, they have some of the regular classics, but what they focus on are modernised often more casually unique designs that are highly suitable for how many dress nowadays. The shoes are manufactured in Spain, are Goodyear welted, and apart from their RTW range they have an excellent MTO service that is very popular. Prices start at $430.
Optimo
Optimo was founded in 1996 by Graham Thompson, a man dedicated to recover and develop the almost outdying art of fine hatmaking. They run their own workshop in Chicago, where they create some of the world’s absolute best hats. Optimo has a wide range of ready-made hats, and offer customised hats made to your exact specifications. They were a popular exhibitor last year, we’re glad to have them back.
Raymar
The brand Raymar is one of the most hyped brands back home in Japan at the moment, with really affordable welted footwear, made in close collaboration with a Chinese factory. They have both Goodyear welted shoes and hand welted with machine stitched outsoles, with closed channel leather soles and sleek rounded waists and leathers from famous European tanneries. Great shoes starting at $280.
Yearn
Yearn has its own factory in Chengdu, China, with 10 employees, led by Jie Zeng who has worked in the shoe business for decades. The brand is known for their sleek elegant shoes on well-designed lasts lasts, made of European leathers from the most reputable tanneries. Yearn’s shoes are truly handmade, so hand lasted, hand welted with handmade sole stitching. Priced from $500.
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