***Written by Jesper of Shoegazing, edited by myself***
This is part two of the big walkthrough of all competition shoes in the World Championships of Shoemaking 2023.
Here, positions 11 to 29 are reviewed with comments and pictures.
Pt.1 with more info about the contest and positions 1-10 can be found here.
The Results:
11. Attila Shoes
12. Jihoon Yun
13. Daiki Fujiyama
14. Kim Junghwan
15. Dmitry Avdyukhov
16. Calzoleria De Fumo
17. Lightbulb
17. RAB Bespoke
19. Yasunari Shimozaki
19. Zhencheng Wang
21. The Last Shoemaker
22. Paul.B.d.n
23. Ryota Hayafuji
24. Chen
25. Karol Stanios
26. Marat Ablakov
27. Badhatbrothers & Co
28. Kim Kyungseok
29. Lisa Teng
11. Attila Shoes
Classic base, playful details.
The Hungarian brand Attila Shoes, is run by maker Attila Kovacs who has done all parts of the shoe himself. Attila has participated in various shoemaking contests before, which is evident here. It’s both well-made and has a bunch of special features. For example, the seamless wholecut part goes all the way up in front along the facing, and up all along the back, and the heel is built with transversal pieces in a very cool way.
12. Yun Jihoon
It’s nice when makers have a unique personal style. Yun Jihoon who runs the brand Comfy Shoes in South Korea is one such maker, with peaks, enhanced shapes, and a robust feel. Making is good, albeit not on the level of the absolute top ones. Yun has worked with shoes for a decade, and in 2019 he made shoes for the South Korean President. He is part of a prosperous bespoke shoemaking scene in South Korea. All components were made by Yun Jihoon, except metal fittings by Jeongin.
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13. Daiki Fujiyama
Daiki Fujiyama from Japan has mainly worked with orthopedic shoes, but last three years or so started making more regular bespoke dress shoes. With his entry, he wanted to combine these parts and show that one can make a good-looking shoe on a last with many orthopedic features. The level of difficulty isn’t that high, but the execution is excellent.
14. Kim Junghwan
Another entry is from South Korea, where Kim Junghwan runs the brand Kyle Works. His entry is a solid classic version of the balmoral boot, along with metal eyelets that one often could see back in the day. Especially the sole and the heel are nicely made, while some other areas could perhaps be a bit cleaner. Another one with a seamless wholecut vamp piece.
.15. Dmitry Avdyukhov
A boot that is very varied, both in difficulty level, level of execution, and design/aesthetics. Some are top in each segment, and some are not at all as good. Overall it’s surely an interesting entry, not least the hand-stitched upper and the sole decoration are nice pieces of artistry. Dmitry Avdyukhov is a shoemaker from the Volograd region in Russia, he has done all the work, apart from the leather carving of the sole which is done by Alexander Chaika.
16. Calzoleria De Fumo
Calzoleria de Fumo is a brand from the shoe region Montegranaro in Italy, run by Luca Alessandrini and Jenny Palombari. Some parts that raise the difficulty points, like the hand-stitched upper and seamless vamp piece, and some that raise the aesthetics/design area, like the lovely decorated sole. I’ve seen de Fumo do this on other shoes as well, sort of reenacting the upper pattern on the sole. One has to admire this.
17. Lightbulb
A boot that stands out, and it does so by being very toned down. Hidden seams all around the upper make for a minimalistic feel, which together with a seamless vamp and high shaft gives large areas of fine black leather. The sole stitching and welt finishing are also very neatly done. Lightbulb is a Tokyo-based shoemaker combining orthopedic knowledge and bespoke shoemaking, offering really good-looking shoes also to those with problematic feet. Last and upper design by Tatsuya Noguchi, closing and bottoming by Hirokazu Sotobayashi.
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17. RAB Bespoke
Same points as the above, hence two in the 17th position. RAB Bespoke is the brand of Robert Bautista from Seattle, USA. He has made everything on the boot himself. Has some stuff raising the difficulty level, like hand-stitched upper and seamless vamp piece, and also the contrasting heel stitch. Execution and design are a bit lower though.
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19. Yasunari Shimozaki
A boot where of course the consistent use of contrasting white stitching is what gives it character. It’s a well-made shoe, not the highest of difficulty, but a clean make. Made by the Japanese bespoke shoemaker Yasunari Shimozaki, who trained at Spigola but now runs his own brand Seica in Kobe. Unfortunately, he had misunderstood the model, so it received a 10% deduction of points due to it not being a proper balmoral boot.
19. Zhencheng Wang
Another tie with exactly the same points, so two 19th placed. This boot is very special in many ways, which one has to admire. The natural-colored sole edges made it stand out even more, though this did not comply with the set specs, so it got 5% points deduction due to this. The welt is heavily marked, showing also sparse stitching can look super, and of course, the special waist build-up draws attention. Made by the Chinese maker Zhencheng Wang, with his son Linlin Wang doing the finishing.
21. The Last Shoemaker
A very dramatic boot, with the triple welt and the very high toe box. Not the cleanest of make, but certainly an ambitious one with difficult parts. On the sole, there are also sort of clock parts adding more uniqueness. The Last Shoemaker is a UK / Thailand company, where the last and the pattern was made by Allan Donnelly, upper by Chan Antison, Tanit Khaoleng bottoming, and finishing Myint Ohn.
22. Paul.B.d.n
Another boot with a unique character, with a sort of block heel. Hidden upper stitching, which is extra tricky together with a seamless vamp piece as we have here, makes the upper a bit “wobbly” in feel though. Very tight, well-executed sole stitching. Paul Bogdan Bietanau with the brand Paul.B.d.n. is based in Italy’s Marche region, where he focuses on bespoke shoemaking. Paul has made all, except the last which is made by Claudio Spreca.
23. Ryota Hayafuji
Ryota Hayafuji was relatively early to move from Japan and establish himself in the European bespoke shoemaking scene. He has worked out of Germany for a long time and is based in Munich. His boot has a lovely Norwegian stitch and fine sole stitching, and cool matching decorations embedded in the heel. Kind of cool that the seamless vamp piece also has parts following along the facing. (Note: The creases on the vamp part are due to difficulties we in the organization had to insert the shoe tree, so that should just be overlooked.)
24. Chen
Chen is another Chinese shoemaker based in Guangzhou, who has made the whole shoe himself. Unlike most previous ones, his entry is a straightforward one, a very classic balmoral boot with a round toe last and conservative appearance. It is a well-made shoe, overall a rather clean and neat build and finishing.
25. Karol Stanios
Another more classic boot, but with a more distinct and solid bottom piece which gives it more stance. The boot is much cleaner seen from above than from below, the sole finishing is really quite bad and pulled it down quite a bit. With the neatness of the sole and heel, one would expect more also there. Karol Stanios is from Krakow in Poland, where he runs a bespoke workshop.
26. Marat Ablakov
Marat Ablakov from Russia has been making shoes for around 30 years now. Here we have one of the more crazily designed contest boots, with the folded-over topline and raised waist. Not the cleanest of make, better in some areas, a bit less in some. It received a 5% deduction due to the extensive brogueing and medallion, which didn’t follow the contest guidelines.
27. Badhatbrothers & Co
A very rock’n’roll boot, with double welt and Norwegese stitching, dented toe, and more. The upper stitching is done well while the bottoming lacks a bit especially the sole stitching. It looks like it’s been a bit of a struggle with the special construction chosen. Badhabrothers & Co is a South Korean company, run by Heo Yang-Uk, they focus on chunkier styles and heavier boots, glad to not only have dress shoe makers part of the contest.
28. Kim Kyungseok
Kim Kyungseok is another maker from South Korea, great to see so many entries from there. This entry is certainly not a bad boot, it’s just a bit behind in all regards, difficulty, execution as well as design/aesthetics with a bit of lack of balance. I think with more time doing shoes really good things can come from here.
29. Lisa Teng
A boot that has an ambitious hand-stitched upper, decorative braiding, rather tight sole stitching, and a cool carved-out heel. Cleanliness isn’t there, and the last shape isn’t the neatest, there things could improve. Lisa Teng is from Singapore, and does a lot of creative and specially designed footwear normally.
Pt.1 with more info about the contest and positions 1-10 can be found here.
