Time to qualify for the U.S. Championships of Shoe Shining 2025, with the finals taking place at the large shoe event, The New York Super Trunk Show, on October 4th, 2025.
The contest and the event are organized by The Shoe Snob, Shoegazing, and Kirby Allison in collaboration with sponsors Saphir shoe care and Bridlen shoes. The shiners will battle for glory, medals, shoes, shoe care products, plus now also with $800 in the prize pool, sponsored by Saphir.
The first two editions of the New York Super Trunk Show have been really successful, with almost 1,200 visitors and some 15 shoe and menswear exhibitors from around the world each year. Organizers are Justin FitzPatrick of The Shoe Snob, Jesper Ingevaldsson of Shoegazing, and Kirby Allison. The event takes place at The Kosciuszko Foundation on the Upper East Side, close to Central Park, on Saturday, October 4th. This year’s line-up is being finalized now, and much more info about the event and all exhibitors will come later this summer.
As last year, Saphir will offer free shoe shining service for the visitors, we’ll have more stage happenings and more live action in the venue, similar to when I did the first super trunk show events in Stockholm 10+ years ago. Then, a highlight of the event will, of course, be the second edition of the U.S. Championships of Shoe Shining.
U.S. Championships of Shoe Shining 2025
The U.S Shoe Shining Championships is organized in collaboration with French world leading premium shoe care brand Saphir and the acclaimed shoe manufacturer Bridlen from India, where the winner will receive a pair of shoes from Bridlen, a shoe care package from Saphir, and the top three gets medals and share a prize pool of $800 ($500 to the winner, $200 to second and $100 to third). A contest that wants to put focus on the high standard of shoe shiners in the States, and a good opportunity, for example, for shiners and cobblers offering the service to promote themselves and their work to a really wide audience.
The final takes place at 3pm on Saturday, October 4th, where one medium brown plain cap toe oxford from Bridlen is to be polished as beautifully as possible. The jury will not only look at the highest shine, but the most beautiful work is rewarded, as well as how much of the shoe is shined. The finalists will have one can of Saphir Medaille d’Or Pate de Lux and a can of Saphir Medaille d’Or Mirror Gloss in the colours of their choice, water, a shoe brush, a polishing cloth (this they may bring themselves), and a nylon cloth, and then they have 20 minutes to shine the shoe. We always see some impressive things to be achieved despite the short time.
To qualify for the U.S. Championships of Shoe Shining 2025, send in three pictures of a pair of well-polished shoes. The pictures should show off as much of the shine job as possible, that is their purpose, so vary the angles between the pics, maybe one close-up, etc. What will be judged is how well the shoe is polished, not necessarily the highest shine, but also other parameters will be taken into consideration, as the depth of the shine, any eventual nice color variations, etc, the same things we look at during the final.
Only one entry (three pics of the same shoes) per contestant can be sent in, and it should only be a maximum of one pair of shoes in the picture (for example, not a shoe collection with shined shoes). The person has to be able to attend the final in New York on Saturday, 4th. The contest is open for Americans, professionals as well as amateurs, so both patina artists, professional shoe shiners, cobblers, as well as random shoe enthusiasts can enter the competition.
You are allowed to make minor adjustments to the pictures in, for example, Photoshop, but more significant changes or filters, etc., are not allowed. We have a professional photographer who will examine all entries, and if we suspect that these rules have been violated, the person can be disqualified. And note, it’s the beauty of the polish job that is judged, not how beautiful the photos are.
The jury (preliminary) consists of:
Tom Costin, Saphir / Soletech
Affan Mohammed, Bridlen Shoemaker
Justin FitzPatrick, The Shoe Snob
Jesper Ingevaldsson, Shoegazing
Kirby Allison
Levi Elliott, Levi’s Shoe Shine, U.S. shoe shining champion 2023
Preston Soto, The Elegant Oxford
All will give points 1-5 to their five favorites, and the three entries that receive the most points will be qualified for the final. Justin FitzPatrick will be the only one who knows which picture is from which person; the other will vote without any info about who has sent in the entries. In the case of a tie, Jesper Ingevaldsson’s votes will be the deciding factor. The jury decision cannot be overruled.
Send in three photos to [email protected] no later than Saturday, August 17. Enter “U.S. Championships of Shoe Shining 2025” in the subject field. Finalists will be contacted the following week and then announced here. For any uncertainties, just email us and we’ll help out.
—Justin FitzPatrick, The Shoe Snob