The London Super Trunk Show is officially 15 days away and it is getting exciting now.

After a 3 year hiatus, we finally have the opportunity to get shoe lovers around the world, gathered in one venue along with 10 different brands from different countries, cultures, price points and make. A great time is surely ahead of us and we are excited to be back at it. That we, being myself and Jesper of Shoegazing Blog.

Now that there is an official countdown, just wanted to recap a few things about the event and who will be there. Of the ten brands coming, I wanted to highlight 5 today and 5 next week of the different price categories, just to break it down a little more. So, let’s take a look.

The technical info is below:

Location: Showcase.co, 12 Regent Street, St. James, London.

Date: Saturday, May 7th, 2022

Full Schedule for the day:

11:00-19:00 Trunk show opens for the public, FREE OF CHARGE AND NO REGISTRATION NEEDED. Exhibitions with ACME Shoemaker, Bridlen, Catella Shoemaker (Daniel Wegan), CNES Shoemaker, Mori of Shoemakers, Modum Shoes, Norman Vilalta, Paolo Scafora, Septieme Largeur, and Skolyx / TLB Mallorca. Also exhibitions with the event’s main partner Saphir (shoe care) and partners Bresciani (Italian Socks, among the finest) and Cad & the Dandy/The Valet/Arthur Sleep shoes (tailoring etc), plus shoemaking championships partner Master Shoemakers (book). On display are all competition shoes in the World Championships in Shoemaking.

11.15-17.15 (with 1-hour break from 14.45-15.45) Final of the World Championships in Shoe Patina in collaboration with Saphir, 1st prize a pair of TLB Mallorca shoes.

15.00-15.30 Final of the World Championships in Shoe Shining in cooperation with Saphir, 1st prize a pair of shoes from Loake.

17:30-17:50 Award ceremony for the World Championships in Shoemaking, in collaboration with Kirby Allison’s Hanger Project and Master Shoemakers. The top ten including the three podium positions are presented. In the prize pool is 6,000 GBP (€6,700 / $7,800), plus being exhibited at Isetan Men’s, Tokyo, and at other places around the world. (More info in the Call for competition)

19.00 Event closes.

Please note, there is a full bar there so no one will go thirsty 😉

Now that we have that out of the way, let’s recap the makers coming and a bit about each.

Bridlen

Bridlen is an Indian factory that has teamed up with the people behind introducing Meermin in Japan (which was their first market), and has been revamping their whole offering. Bridlen will introduce their new top range at the super trunk, which they will focus on for the European market. What’s interesting with this range is that it’s Goodyear welted shoes, with the welt seam made directly to a full leather insole, the old-school way without gemming (a canvas rib glued to the insole). What’s even more interesting is that they are able to offer shoes with this make at an impressive price of around £210 / €250 / $275

CNES Shoemaker

CNES Shoemaker is one of Vietnam’s largest manufacturers of Goodyear welted shoes. At home, they are huge, with their own stores in many cities, and they are also established in other markets in Asia such as Singapore and South Korea. Now they have also started to look towards Europe, and when the brand visited the Stockholm super trunk last year the reception was sensational. CNES has a very wide range of shoes, both very dressy and elegant models, sometimes with patina, but also more casual models and boots. The shoes look a lot more expensive than the around £195/€230/$250, and they also make hand welted shoes for just a bit more.

Septieme Largeur

Septieme Largeur is one of the most successful French brands of Goodyear welted shoes and has been around for a decade. Run by the legendary shoe entrepreneur Marcos Fernandez and his nephew Mathieu Priess, they have been doing everything right in this rather fierce competition in the domestic market and have also become a large international player. The shoes are Goodyear welted in Spain, often with rather slim wood pegged waists and elegant sleek lasts. The number of models offered is astonishing, and they continuously launch new interesting models and patinas all for a very reasonable price for what you are getting in return. Priced at £230/€275/$300 (patina’s are extra)

Skolyx / TLB Mallorca

Skolyx is a Swedish based online store, which sells a lot of shoe trees and shoe care, but is increasingly famous for its excellent selection of Spanish-made Goodyear welted shoes. The host Jesper Ingevaldsson of Shoegazing works for the company. Skolyx has a private label range of classic models produced on Mallorca with good specs for the price, things like leather board heel stiffeners and leathers from among other French tanneries Annonay and Du Puy. The starting price is only £185/€220/$240.

They also sell TLB Mallorca, who has made a mark since they entered the market a couple of years ago, not least with the top range Artista who pushes the bar for Goodyear welted shoes in the mid-range price segment. Incredibly narrow waists with bevelling going in under the heel, close cut and finely sanded sole and heel edges, tight sole stitching, real leather heel stiffeners, and more. At £360 / €425 / $460 TLB Artista offers some of the most bang for the buck on the market, and the regular TLB range is also great stuff at £310 / €365 / $395.

Modum

Coming from Germany, Modum is a company that specializes in 3D scanning Bespoke-like footwear for those that are hard to fit and want a RTW-like solution to what can be an intricate process. In steps Modum to meet those needs via a quick phone scan, some detail adjustments and creating your own design based on a set of fixed options to get perfect fitting shoes starting from £420 / €500 / 540.

Founded by two engineers who had a passion for shoes and felt that this was a niche market that needed serving, they teamed up with some German shoemakers, created some lasts and developed an app to help with the bespoke process that allows one to do it all from the comfort of their own home. It’s a very modern-day solution to a global issue: shoe fit. The shoes are goodyear welted and made in Portugal.