In the seventh World Championships of Shoemaking we have a chelsea boot as the model to be made. The final takes place at the London Super Trunk Show on May 9 2026. In the prize pool there are £6,000 (€6,900 / $8,100), handmade shoemaking awls, and a chance to be showcased in shoe stores around the world. Read of for all the info about the contest.
The World Championships of Shoemaking is organised by Shoegazing, The Shoe Snob blog, and Kirby Allison, where the latter also financially supports the contest, together with support from and the book project Master Shoemakers and Parker Schenecker (the brother of the co-founder of the contest, shoe enthusiast Edmund Schenecker, who passed away in 2021). The hugely successful contest has meant invaluable attention both for individual shoemakers and the shoemaking craft, for example last year BBC World News covered it in a feature showcased for millions of people globally.
First round was won by the German Patrick Frei, in 2019 the UK-based Swede Daniel Wegan took the title, 2022 was the year Wataru Shimamoto of Japan won, in 2023 we had Frenchman Athanase Sephocle of Berluti as winner, in 2024 Ken Hishinuma from Japan won, and finally this year the German Louis Lampertsdörfer came 1st, Ken Kataoka 2nd and Ken Hishinuma returned for a 3rd place. The top shoes in these contests have been serious masterpieces, definitely museum worthy, and has again started a process of pushing the bar for what can be achieved when making shoes by hand.
Some of this year’s entries on display for the around 1,300 visitors of the London super trunk in May. (Top banner picture: Alto e Diritto)
The top three shoes each year go on a world tour to about ten locations around the world. In Tokyo they will be displayed at one of the largest department stores in the world, Isetan Shinjuku in the Isetan Men’s building. The fact that shoe lovers around the world has the chance to admire the craftsmanship, and people who don’t know much about shoes have discovered what can be done, is an important aspect of the contest.
We’ve also have had great media coverage through the years, both big and small shoemakers have entered, and it’s now well-established in the shoemaking community. Worth noting is that we who organise this make no money on it at all, everything we get from the partners goes directly to the prize sum, to the shoemakers. We do this for the good of the shoemaking community and to push and promote the craft. And it’s also up to good shoemakers to continue to put in the effort to keep this going as well as it has.
Around 100 years ago there were numerous of prestigious shoemaking competitions around the world. These competitions pushed the shoemakers in their craft, made them create amazing stuff which not necessarily would be ideal for actual use, but incredible as showpieces. With the World Championships of Shoemaking, aim was to bring back some of this. And at the same time, do our best to show the competition shoes for a wide audience, something that can be a positive thing for the industry and the specific brands / makers. And it’s been evident that placing high in the contest have meant very positive things for the makers in terms of recognition and new customers. For some, the contest has even been vital in making it possible for them to continue their shoemaking careers.
This year’s podium shoes. From the left 1st placed by Louis Lampertsdörfer, middle 2nd by Ken Kataoka, to the right 3rd by Ken Hishinuma.
The 2024 top three when a full strap loafer was to be made.
The top three boots from 2023 on display during an event at the huge department store Isetan Men’s in Shinjuku, Tokyo, Japan.
The 2022 top contest shoes on display at Isetan.
The top three shoes from 2019 on the their world tour, here at Medallion Shoes in Shanghai. Picture: Medallion Shoes
The top three shoes from the first year, showcased at Unipair in Seoul, South Korea. Picture: Unipair
Now it’s time for the seventh round. Below in the official call for competition you can find all the details about how everything works, and for bespoke shoe brands or people who work with making shoes, how to enter the world championships. But to summarise it, the contestants will make a black chelsea boot, where design of it is rather open this round given that the elastics on each side of the boot will make the style inevitably similar in many ways anyway. It should have a leather sole, be hand welted with handmade sole stitching.
The criteria that will be judged are the degree of difficulty and the execution of the making, the overall design/aesthetics, and – new for this year – originality. With the originality criteria we want to award those who come up with new things and don’t copy too much from earlier contest shoes or take clear inspiration of special solutions from others.
A traditional clean chelsea boot is a lot about last shape, and can be so beautiful. Picture: Gaziano & Girling
“J. Sparkes-Hall’s Patent Elastic Ankle Boots” was the original name of the model, from its inventor J Sparkes-Hall. He was the shoemaker to Queen Victoria in England in the 1800’s, and he was also the one who developed the first balmoral boots for her husband Prince Albert. It was when Sparkes-Hall continued to work on the balmoral boot design and incorporated elastic gussets, that the new boot model was born. This was in 1837. The model here is a bit later though, from around 1870. Read more about the history of the chelsea boot in this article. Picture: Shoe Icons
A slight special touch with brogueing on this chelsea. Picture: Yohei Fukuda
An example of a more designed upper. Picture: Saint Laurent
Chelseas with a bit higher shafts and higher heels are also seen occasionally. Picture: Harvey Nichols
1st prize is £3,000, 2nd £2,000 and 3rd £1,000, they receive one handmade awl by Phil Norsworthy, medals, plus all podium placed shoes will be exhibited as usual in various locations around the world, similar to previous tours. When the contest is over all shoes will be sent back to the shoemakers and can be used as sample display shoes (for top three after the tour). On Shoegazing and The Shoe Snob and in our social media channels we will also showcase all entries in the world championships, and Kirby Allison will do films on the contest on his Youtube channel.
We hope to continue to get a wide variety of brands and shoemakers entering the competition this time as well. Both larger, more established firms and smaller less known one-man operations, which has been the case every year. To enter the competition, you need to register by sending an e-mail to shoegazingblog@gmail.com no later than January 31 2026. Any questions about the competition can also be sent here (do read the Call for competition found below carefully first though).
World champion 2025 Louis Lampertsdörfer.
We do know that there can be discussions on how this type of competition is set up and how it’s judged, but hope that most people continue to understand that what we do here and judge here is what is stated in this text below (for example, wearability is not a criteria, since it’s more or less impossible to draw the line of what is wearable or not, and it’s the craftsmanship of the shoes that are in focus since fit is more or less impossible to judge, and it’s not something that is especially thrilling to make a contest around).
In the jury who will review the shoes are several bespoke shoemakers and professionals within the industry, the preliminary jury members are shoemakers Jean-Michel Casalonga (bespoke shoemaker based in France, previously at Berluti but now runs his own brand) , William Laborde (bespoke shoemaker based in London, runs his brand Efe Laborde, plus do outwork), Emiko Matsuda (Japanese maker based in the UK, runs her own brand, previously many years at Foster & Son), Sebastian Tarek (independent shoemaker who previously have done outwork for many of the London West End firms), Saskia Wittmer (bespoke shoemaker based in Florence, Italy), Daniel Wegan (previous world champion, of Catella Shoemaker), and Athanase Sephocle (also previous world champion, bespoke shoemaker at Berluti). To also add a slightly different view we have shoe experts Jesper Ingevaldsson of Shoegazing, Justin FitzPatrick of The Shoe Snob and Kirby Allison of Kirbyallison.com part of the jury, and the sponsor who are making this contest possible (together with Parker Schenecker) Gary Tok, author of Master Shoemakers.
The final of the World Championships of Shoemaking will as usual take place at the next London Super Trunk Show, which is on Saturday May 9 2026, at the regular spot Showcase.co on Regent Street just below Piccadilly Circus. Stay tuned for more info about the event in spring. The super trunk will as previous times gather up to 15 exhibitors from all over the world, and it will host the final in the World Championships of Shoe Shining and also World Championships of Shoe Patina, and much more. Do mark May 9 in your calendars, book your flights and so on. And as always, please help us spread the word about the contest!
WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS OF SHOEMAKING 2026 – OFFICIAL CALL FOR COMPETITION
Criteria for shoe:
– Chelsea boot model, ankle high with elastics on each side of the shaft, 1-4 pieces of leather, decorative stitching, brogueing, punched holes etc. are okay but not necessary.
– One left shoe, size UK8 (or corresponding size), maximum 2 width sizes up or down from an acceptable standard width. (NOTE: We will be more strict this year with the size and width following these guidelines, risk for deduction for not following this is higher than before).
– Smooth black leather, box calf or aniline dyed, no patina.
– Leather sole.
– Hand welted, handmade sole stitch. The shoe has to have a 270° welt (or more), so there has to be a waist and the welt with the sole stitching should go on both sides of the waist all the way to back the heel (although it can of course be hidden blind welt at the waist).
– Black sole and heel edges, natural coloured bottom (decorations with for example wheels or nails are ok, but no dye or burnish).
– Finished inside of the shoe, with sock lining etc.
– No branding.
– Due to practical reasons, we will not remove potential shoe trees for the jury review, but the shoe trees won’t be part of the judging (we highly encourage making lightweight shoe trees, for practical reasons).
Errors in respect to the above specifications will result in deductions of points, 5% deduction of total points for small errors, 10% deduction of total points on larger errors. If the shoe does not follow specifications at all, it can be disqualified. Jury decisions on the above cannot be overruled.
Competitors can enter both as a company or as a person. All persons that have been part in the making of the shoe should be stated, and which process(es) each person have made.
Criteria that will be judged:
Degree of difficulty (maximum 10 points per jury member)
Jury look at how complicated construction methods that have been used, how advanced they have been built both in large and in smaller details, etc.
Execution (maximum 10 points)
Jury look at how well the various parts of the shoe construction have been made, how neat and clean the work is, how well executed the level of finishing is, etc.
Design / aesthetics (maximum 5 points)
Jury look at the overall aesthetics of the shoe, proportions, balance etc.
Originality (maximum 5 points)
Jury look at how unique the design, construction elements, finishing details etc. are, compared to previous contest shoes as well as shoes in general.
Prizes:
1st prize: £3,000. Handmade awl. Gold medal. Shoe showcased at shoe stores around the world.
2nd prize: £2,000. Handmade awl. Silver medal. Shoe showcased at shoe stores around the world.
3rd prize: £1,000. Handmade awl. Bronze medal. Shoe showcased at shoe stores around the world.
How to enter the competition:
Competitors who wish to enter the contest need to register to shoegazingblog@gmail.com no later than January 31 2026, send in name / brand under which you wish to enter. Only one entry per competitor. It’s free of charge to enter the competition. For any questions, send an e-mail to the address above. We encourage brands/makers to take pictures of the making process to be shared after the final on May 9 (but the shoe cannot be shown to the public prior to the event).
Judging process and award ceremony:
The final shoes needs to arrive in London no later than Wednesday May 6, and have to be shipped so that no customs etc. end up on us. The shoes will be presented anonymously*. Note that due to this, competing shoemakers can not show the competition shoes in for example social media until May 9, and they cannot reveal that they are entering the contest.
The jury review of the shoes will take place on Friday May 8. The shoes will all be displayed during the London Super Trunk Show event on Saturday May 9, where the award ceremony will take place at 5.30pm. Then the world champion of shoemaking and the podium places will be announced (competitors don’t have to be on site themselves, though of course always great when contestants are present in London), with the full top ten list (the other positions will be revealed later). All competition shoes will also be showcased on Shoegazing and The Shoe Snob’s sites, top shoes will be featured on Kirby Allison’s YouTube channel, and many of them in our social media channels.
The jury (preliminary):
Jean-Michel Casalonga, bespoke shoemaker
William Laborde, bespoke shoemaker
Emiko Matsuda, bespoke shoemaker
Sebastian Tarek, bespoke shoemaker
Saskia Wittmer, bespoke shoemaker
Athanase Sephocle, bespoke shoemaker at Berluti
Daniel Wegan, bespoke shoemaker
Kirby Allison, sponsor, founder of the Kirby Allison store
Gary Tok, sponsor, author of Master Shoemakers
Jesper Ingevaldsson, Shoegazing
Justin FitzPatrick, The Shoe Snob
The jury decision cannot be overruled.
The shoes will be returned to the contestants and can be used as display shoes (for top three, after the tour around the world). In the case they need to be shipped back, the contestant need to sort the return shipping with a pre-paid return shipping label.
*Jesper Ingevaldsson of Shoegazing will know who enters the contest, due to him taking care of the registration and answering questions. For all others part of the jury, the shoes will be strictly anonymous.
