Time to start the qualification phase for the World Championships of Shoe Shining and the World Championships of Shoe Patina 2026. The contests are organised together with the shoe care company Saphir and the shoe brand Bridlen, with the finals held at the London Super Trunk Show on Saturday May 9. In the prize pool are medals, shoes and shoe care products and £600 / $800 in each contest, sponsored by Saphir.
The London Super Trunk Show 2026, organised by Shoegazing, The Shoe Snob and Kirby Allison, takes place on Saturday May 9 at Showcase.co, 12 Regent Street, London. More than ten shoe and menswear brands will be present, the World Championships of Shoemaking will hold its award ceremony with competition shoes on display, and the finals of the World Championships of Shoe Shining and Shoe Patina will take place live on stage.
Both finals and award ceremonies will be live streamed on Shoegazing’s YouTube channel, on Shoegazing.com, and on Saphir Medaille d’Or’s Instagram. Articles on the blogs and videos on Kirby Allison’s YouTube will follow after the event.
World Championships of Shoe Shining 2026
This is the seventh edition of the World Championships of Shoe Shining, organised together with Saphir and Bridlen. The winner receives a Saphir shoe care kit, a pair of shoes from Bridlen, the gold medal, and £300 in prize money (second place £200, third place £100).
Previous winners include Yuya Hasegawa, Yuta Sugimura, Naoki Hayashida, John Chung, Ash Samsudin, Nishigami Yoshihiro and last year’s champion Ryu Niita. The contest is open to professionals and amateurs alike, and previous winners are highly encouraged to enter again.
Last year’s shoe shine world champion Ryu Niita.
The final takes place at 15.00 on May 9. Finalists polish one medium brown plain cap toe oxford from Bridlen in 20 minutes. Judging focuses on overall beauty, technique, coverage, attention to detail and depth of shine, not only on a mirror gloss finish.
Each finalist is provided with one can of Saphir Medaille d’Or Pate de Lux, one can of Mirror Gloss, water, a brush, a polishing cloth and a nylon cloth. They can bring their own polishing cloth if they prefer that.
To qualify, send three photos of the same pair of well-polished shoes, showing the shine from different angles. Only one entry per contestant, and a maximum of one pair of shoes may appear in the images. The shoes must be polished by the entrant, and finalists must be able to attend the final in London. Minor photo adjustments are allowed, but heavier editing or filters are not permitted.
An entry that made it to the final last year.
The preliminary jury consists of Jesper Ingevaldsson (Shoegazing), Justin FitzPatrick (The Shoe Snob), Kirby Allison, Katia Moura (Saphir), Affan Mohamed (Bridlen), Tom Beecroft (The Valet) and Yuya Hasegawa. Each jury member ranks their five favourites with 5–1 points. Entries are judged anonymously (only Jesper who handles registration knows). In case of a tie, Justin FitzPatrick’s vote is decisive. The jury decision is final. Should a jury member be biased towards any entrant that qualify, their points would be removed and a new count would take place. In the final, a biased jury member would blind-judge the shoes.
Send your entry to shoegazingblog@gmail.com no later than Sunday March 8. Use “World Championships of Shoe Shining” as the subject. Finalists will be announced the following week.
It’s 20 minutes of hard work for the finalists.
To the right is the Bridlen shoe that won last year’s final, shined for just 20 minutes, to the left its unpolished sibling.
World Championships of Shoe Patina 2026
The World Championships of Shoe Patina is organised together with Saphir and Bridlen. The winner receives a Saphir shoe care kit, a pair of shoes from Bridlen, the gold medal, and £300 in prize money (second place £200, third place £100).
The shoes to paint is a pair of shoes from Bridlen’s Founders line. From the NYC patina exhibition.
Rodolphe Baudry, world champion of shoe patina 2025.
The final runs from 11.15 to 17.15, with a break between 14.45 and 15.45. Finalists will paint a pair of Bridlen crust leather oxfords (finalists will be informed of exact model once they’ve qualified) using five colours of Saphir Teinture Française of their choice, along with selected Saphir creams and waxes. Technique, execution, attention to detail and overall beauty are judged. The winning shoes will go on a world tour to more than ten destinations, together with the top three of the shoemaking world champs.
To qualify, submit three photos from different angles of one painted and polished pair of shoes. Only one entry per contestant, and finalists must be able to attend the London final. Minor photo adjustments are allowed, but heavier editing is not.
The preliminary jury consists of Tom Beecroft (The Valet), Bismark Blak-Walter (Sartor Polishing), Jesper Ingevaldsson (Shoegazing), Justin FitzPatrick (The Shoe Snob), Katia Moura (Saphir) and Affan Mohamed (Bridlen). Each jury member ranks their five favourites with 1–5 points. Entries are judged anonymously (only Jesper who handles registration knows). In case of a tie, Justin FitzPatrick’s vote is decisive. Should a jury member be biased towards any entrant that qualify, their points would be removed and a new count would take place. The jury decision is final.
Send your entry to shoegazingblog@gmail.com no later than Sunday March 8. Use “World Championships of Shoe Patina” as the subject. Finalists will be announced the following week.
What all contestants are after.
Big crowds usually follows the contests.
