A split toe derby is the shoe to be made for the next World Championships of Shoemaking. The final takes place at the London Super Trunk Show on May 15 2027. The sponsors have increased the prize pool massively to £10,000 (€11,700 / $13,300), plus handmade shoemaking awls, and a chance to be showcased in shoe stores around the world. Read the article for all the info about the contest.
The World Championships of Shoemaking is as usual 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 contest has meant invaluable attention both for individual shoemakers and the shoemaking craft, for example a previous year BBC World News covered it in a feature showcased for millions of people globally.
This year the sponsors have very generously decided to do a proper almost 70% increase of the prize money, to a total of £10,000 (€11,700 / $13,300), spread out with £5,000 to the winner, £3,000 to second place and £2,000 to third. This to keep the status of the contest high and make it worthwhile for all the shoemakers who put in such amazing efforts with their contest shoes. As usual top three also gets a handmade shoemaking 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.
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, which is an important note. We see that many good makers enter but then pull out, sometimes just because they aren’t fully pleased with the shoes, which isn’t ideal for the greater good of the contest itself. Don’t be scared to enter and maybe finish a bit lower, there’s still so much positive that comes with it and people nowadays know that also great makers sometimes end up lower because of the fierce competition, we’ve seen it from many who later or earlier have finished on the podium.
This year’s contest shoes on display at the super trunk in London back in May
To go through the previous winners, 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, in 2025 the German Louis Lampertsdörfer came 1st, and then this year Japanese Ken Kataoka took the title, Twinkima.G from China second and the Russian Dmitry Avdyukhov.
What’s great is that we see that this contest has once again started a process of pushing the bar for what can be achieved when making shoes by hand, with some true museum-worthy pieces being created, and a lot of new techniques and solutions being tested by the makers. This is an important aspect of the contest.
The top three shoes each year go on a world tour to about ten locations around the world, to among other places one of the largest department stores in the world, Isetan Shinjuku in the Isetan Men’s building. This to make it possible for more people to see and admire the craftsmanship. Similarly we’ve had some great media coverage through the years on the event as a whole, and a lot of shoemakers finishing high up get a lot of attention and also customers from their contest work.
This year’s top placed shoes. From the left, 2nd placed Twinkima.G, 1st placed Ken Kataoka, 3rd placed Dmitry Avdyukhov.
The 2025 podium shoes.
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. Picture: Medallion Shoes
The top three shoes from the first year. Picture: Unipair
Now it’s time for the eight 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 medium brown split toe derby, again relatively open design-wise given the clear characteristics of a split toe and an apron needed. 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 originality. With the originality criteria we introduced last year the aim is 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 split toe derby in medium brown smooth leather can be made in many different ways. Here’s some inspiration, first one by Kenjiro Kawashima that at first glance looks classic but has its own twists. Picture: Kenjiro Kawashima
The Austro-Hungarian way of doing the model type. Picture: Vass
A very classic British style of split toe derby, made by Hiro Yanagimachi.
And here’s an Italian take, with a much longer split toe seam (even if this exact model wouldn’t meet the requirements of the contest). Picture: Stefano Bemer
Various types of Norwegian type sole stitching goes well with split toes. Picture: Saint Crispin’s
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.
Hopefully a variety of brands and shoemakers will be entering the competition this time as well. Both larger, more established firms and smaller less known one-man operations. To enter the competition, you need to register by sending an e-mail to shoegazingblog@gmail.com no later than Februay 15 2027. Any questions about the competition can also be sent here (do read the Call for competition found below carefully first though).
Crowd in London getting ready for the announcement of the top ten makers this year.
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), Louis Lampertsdörfer (bespoke shoemaker from Germany, world champion 2025 who run his brand Mogada) Emiko Matsuda (Japanese maker based in the UK, runs her own brand, previously many years at Foster & Son), Saskia Wittmer (bespoke shoemaker based in Florence, Italy), Riccardo Cianci (bespoke shoemaker who runs the Italian brand Calzoleria Carlino), and Athanase Sephocle (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 financially making this contest possible (together with Kirby and 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 in 2027 will be on Saturday May 15, at the regular spot Showcase.co on Regent Street just below Piccadilly Circus. More info about the event will in spring close to date. 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 15 in your calendars, get your flights and hotels booked, and so on. And as always, please help us spread the word about the contest!
WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS OF SHOEMAKING 2027 – OFFICIAL CALL FOR COMPETITION
Criteria for shoe:
– Split toe derby shoe model, proper split toe stitched together of separate pieces, apron stitched together of separate pieces. 2-6 pieces of leather, functional lacing, 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 are more strict now with the size and width following these guidelines, risk for deduction for not following this is higher than before).
– Smooth leather, medium brown colour, 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).
– Brown coloured 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.
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: £5,000. Handmade awl. Gold medal. Shoe showcased at shoe stores around the world.
2nd prize: £3,000. Handmade awl. Silver medal. Shoe showcased at shoe stores around the world.
3rd prize: £2,000. 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 February 15 2027, 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 15 (but the shoe cannot be shown to the public prior to the event).
Judging process, award ceremony and prize money payout:
The final shoes needs to arrive in London no later than Wednesday May 12, 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 15, and they cannot reveal that they are entering the contest.
The jury review of the shoes will take place on Friday May 14. The shoes will all be displayed during the London Super Trunk Show event on Saturday May 15, 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
Louis Lampertsdörfer, bespoke shoemaker
Emiko Matsuda, bespoke shoemaker
Vivian Saskia Wittmer, bespoke shoemaker
Riccardo Cianci, bespoke shoemaker
Athanase Sephocle, bespoke shoemaker at Berluti
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.
Prize money will be paid out to the top three a few weeks after the contest. As international banking restrictions may prevent us from transferring prize money to certain countries, competitors in such situations must be able to receive payments through an eligible international bank account or through e.g. Wise.
*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.
