We now have the finalists who will compete at the Americas Championships of Shoe Shining 2026, taking place at the Chicago Super Trunk Show at Stitchdown Expo on Saturday November 7. There the three contestants will have 20 minutes to shine a shoe as glossy and lovely looking as possible. The prestigious contest is organised in collaboration with the premium shoe care brand Saphir.
In two months time on November 6-7 it’s time for the refreshed take of our event in America, where we in the super trunk team, Jesper Ingevaldsson of Shoegazing, Justin FitzPatrick of The Shoe Snob, and Kirby Allison have teamed up with Ben Robinson of Stitchdown and the Stitchdown Expo (previously Boot Camp), to merge the worlds of classic shoes and menswear with rugged boots and casual clothing, and of course much more, for a true super event of quality craftsmanship.
Read more about the event here in this article, where you also can secure your tickets.
A highlight of the event will be the Americas shoe shining champs, where we expanded the previous U.S. champ to include the whole of the two continents. You can read more about the qualification process, jury members and how the final will unfold in this article. Here we will highlight the finalists and who they are, along with their submissions. The event is organised together with the world’s number one premium shoe care brand Saphir Medaille d’Or. With their Pate de Lux and Mirror gloss waxes a Bridlen shoe is to be transformed during the 20 minute final.
They compete for the title of the Americas shoe shining champion, along with medals, winner gets the Bridlen shoe he/she has shined and its sibling, and the three share a prize pool of $800 ($500 to the winner, $200 to second and $100 to third) given by Saphir. We’ve had entries from around both North and South America, below the three who made it to the final.
Jeriah Rocha, Tulsa, OK. A sort of old-school shine (well, a decade old style or so…) with a darkened cap toe that would make Lino Ieluzzi proud. Nice balance between the super shined toe and back part and a slightly more toned down shine over the middle parts. Jeria Rocha runs the shine service The Scuff Doctor in Tulsa, who through LinkedIn and business reviews on Google has built up his business, picking up shoes from around the area and having shoes sent both from near and far. Also runs a residential cleaning business.
Mario Cesar Samaniego, Pharr, TX. Mario Samaniego was one of the finalists in last year’s U.S. shine championships, and he has continued to work hard on developing his skills the past year. He currently runs a shoe shine stand at the DAs Office in Hidalgo county, which is in Edinburgh, Texas. He will soon be transferring to the new courthouse with the new shoe shine stand chair. His entry is a gorgeously shined chelsea boot that has a deep burgundy colour, and a literal mirror shined toe part.
Josh Swidler, Seattle, WA. It’s a bit funny that all the finalists entries featured burgundy shoes with dark toes. Nonetheless, can’t argue with the results, this superbly shined wholecut oxford has a glacage that really brings out the shapes of the shoes. Josh Swidler is a teacher from Seattle who got his eyes open to shoe shining just two years ago. Since then he spent a lot of time gathering knowledge about shining both from online sources, Saphir’s master classes etc. and of course through a lot of practice.
Get your tickets to the final and the Chicago Super Trunk Show x Stitchdown Expo here.
