Since it will take a while until we are finished with the article that covers all 25 of the contest shoes of the Shoemaking World Championship 2025, which were all on display at the London Super Trunk Show this past Saturday, as always, we wanted to give you a brief picture special showcasing the amazing top three shoemaking champions of 2025. This year’s winner was Louis Lampertsdörfer, with Ken Kataoka in second place and Ken Hishinuma in third. A fantastic display of art, creativity, and craftsmanship was on display this year!
This past Saturday, we once again had around 1,300 visitors coming through the doors at 12 Regent Street for the Seventh London Super Trunk Show. There will be much more on that in a large report later this week, and as mentioned, later on I will summarize all of the 25 contest shoes for the World Championships of Shoemaking, a contest organized by Shoegazing, The Shoe Snob (myself), and Kirby Allison with the book Master Shoemakers, plus Parker Schenecker (brother of contest co-founder Edmund Schenecker who passed away a few years ago). But since there is a lot of work putting those contest articles together, and it will take a while, here is a look at the top three shoemaking champions of 2025.
As has been the case in recent years, the overall level of the entries in the World Champs contests is really high, with no difference this year, and the top three were extremely tight this year. In the end, it was only five points between numbers 1 and 3, with 225-220 points. The shoe to be made this year was a dark brown double monk strap.
On the podium this year, we had the following:
Top Three Shoemaking Champions of 2025
Louis Lampertsdörfer, 1st place Shoemaking Champion
Louis Lampertsdörfer is based in the German city of Munich. Among other things, he was an apprentice and later worked at the bespoke department of Gaziano & Girling in England. He has had several top positions in the contest before; his best was third in 2023. Nowadays, he runs his own brand, Mogada, offering a bespoke small hand-welted RTW range.
The shoe is clearly inspired by old contest shoes, with a thin sole and a sole stitching done at a whopping 30 stitches per inch. Things worth highlighting are the finely made horseshoe heel, lovely inlay in the waist area, and super thin 0,5 mm nails in the heel. Raz Maftei did the closing of the upper, the goldsmith Sebastian Schober made the buckles and toe tap, and the rest was made by Louis.
Ken Kataoka, 2nd place
Ken Kataoka is a Japanese maker based in Tokyo. He has worked under the brand name Siroeno Yosui but plans to use his own name going forward. He trained partly at the shoemaking school of Noriyuki Misawa. He runs one of the largest YouTube channels in the world, showcasing shoemaking by hand. Back in 2022, he finished second.
This is a charismatic shoe, with a lot of things to admire. Superb closing of the upper and incredible heel. Beautiful metal parts, super narrow waist, which is made with a 270° welt and stitching. Ken made it all himself.
Ken Hishinuma, 3rd place
Last year’s world champion, who should get a lot of kudos for entering again, and already the following year. Ken Hishinuma runs the shoe brand Khish the Work, now working from the Japanese woods outside Hokuto City, Yamanashi prefecture. Offers MTO and bespoke, and has one of Japan’s largest YouTube channels on shoemaking, called Crazy about Shoes.
The shoe this time is a very classy-looking shoe, with a beautifully made two-level welt with different sole stitch versions. Hand braided decoration seams on the upper, thin, finely made heel lifts, and a metal insert in the heel are other nice features. Ken made all himself, apart from polishing, which was made by Go Ishimi.
We hope that you have enjoyed seeing the creativity, skill, and passion of the top three Shoemaking Champions of 2025. Make sure to stay tuned as we continue to showcase the event as a whole, as well as the other contestants from the World Championships of Shoemaking 2025.
—Justin FitzPatrick, The Shoe Snob
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Hello all. I am a serious shoe afficianado and want to weigh in on the three pairs of shoes that were selected in the shoe making competition. I find them to be a bit feminine for my taste. Having said that I realize that George Washington , the founding fathers and European royalty wore similar high heel shoes. I am 68 years old and weigh 240 lbs. so don’t expect me to be rocking the second place shoes. I will more likely be wearing my Alden’s full wing cordovan , Alden’s Norwegian split toe , Crockett Jones’s, Edward Green , G Cleverly and yes my J Fitzpatrick’s just to mention a few. I acknowledge that workman ship presented is exceptional and they are exquisite in appearance but not for me. For those that find the shoe’s appealing and can pull off wearing them I hope you find great enjoyment in ownership if you are able to get them. I submit this comment with the utmost respect and hope it’s received in the spirit of meaningful and honest dialogue.
Hey Nelson, many feel the same. The shoes made in reality are not specified as needing to be made to be worn. And yes, the ones that always win are often ‘feminine’ looking as slender, fine stitching and tight making shows skills but often looks ‘dainty.’ Many people feel the shoes should be ‘wearable’ but that is not the point of our contest. And of course, you are welcome to state your mind on the matter, we welcome it here 😉 I often find myself personally liking the ‘wearable’ ones the most, although I don’t think that they are ‘the best’ per se.
Thanks for reply. Best to you.