World Champion Shoemaker: Louis Lampertsdörfer Interview

Louis Lampertsdörfer is currently one of my favorite shoemakers. Not only are his shoes extremely well thought out and oriented to a time period that I love, but Louis is one of the nicest guys in the world. And you feel it when you meet him: humble, kind, happy, and eager to hone his skills and excel in his craft. And that he has done.

Louis Lampertsdörfer is the founder of Mogada (Munich) and has been participating in our World Championship in Shoemaking for the last few years. In 2025, Louis took the crown as World Champ. Since I have always been intrigued by his very intentional yet extremely subtle shoe design, I thought it was worth asking him some questions about it all. I hope that you enjoy it!

Age & Shoemaking Experience

How old are you, and how long have you been shoemaking?

I am 34 years old and started making shoes when I was 16. So I have been making shoes for about 18 years now.

How It All Started for Louis Lampertsdörfer

How did you get into it? Who/what inspired you?

As a teenager, I played a lot of basketball, and that sparked an interest in shoes. Initially, it was sneakers I was interested in. I then worked at a shoemaker’s in Munich while still at school to see how shoes are made, and that’s where I saw welted shoes for the first time. It fascinated me how well-made welted shoes are and that they are built to basically be repaired over and over and can be worn for almost a lifetime if you look after them.

Training & Development as a Shoemaker

Where did you train? For how long? How did that shape you as a shoemaker?

After finishing school, I worked at a shoemaker’s in Munich for a while to learn more about shoes, but I didn’t consider it a possible career back then. I started attending university, and shoemaking was my hobby on the side. I practiced the hand-welted construction method and made shoes for myself.

After a while, I realized that that’s what I want to fully commit myself to, and after graduating, I sent an application to Gaziano & Girling to ask if I could apprentice with them. I was very lucky that they took me on as an apprentice, and these years at Gaziano & Girling shaped me and my work a lot. Daniel Wegan, who was back then the head of the bespoke department, became my teacher, and I trained with him in the evenings and on the weekends.

After a while, I was good enough to work on customers’ shoes and then remained at G&G for another 2 years as a bespoke shoemaker. The techniques and ways of working, but also setting yourself a very high standard and trying to deliver perfection with every pair, have stuck with me to this day, and I am very grateful for that.

Design Style & Historical Influences

Your style is very ‘old-world’ – your inspiration, to me, looks very Victorian and/or 1940’s-50’s American, and your shoe patterns reflect that. That is why I like your shoes so much. I suppose this is on purpose and that you intentionally make your facings short and the shoe openings long, much like how shoes were in the beginning of the 1900’s. Is that more British Victorian or 1940’s-50’s American inspired?

Thank you! I personally really like this look, shorter toe caps, deeper cut, and very sculpted, narrow bevelled waists. As a shoemaker, I study old sample shoes from the early 20th century a lot, especially for my entries in the world championships, and that has shaped this look.

As much as I like it, I have to say that I don’t want my shoes to look antiquated; they have to work for the customer in this day and age, in terms of look but also fit. So I try to include these proportions when I can, but at the end of the day, what matters is that the shoe looks nice and well-balanced when the customer wears it.

RTW, MTO, MTM & Bespoke Explained

You seem to make everything under the Sun, from RTW to full Bespoke. I see your RTW range is Hand Welted in Italy. Can you say which region of Italy? And is the sole stitch by hand or machine? Is MTO a different make or just the ability to change last/ leathers, etc? How deep can one get with MTO without needing to bump up to bespoke? I was slightly confused as RTW seems to be $1500, but MTO only 1550 Euros. Is the 1,550 EUR a US price, or is MTO the same as RTW after removing VAT?

Yes, I started out only offering bespoke shoes. But I noticed that I received many requests from customers who wanted me to make them shoes that are not bespoke but just in their regular size, so introducing the RTW collection was a reaction to that. I wanted to offer a collection of nice classics that are really well-made and available without the regular waiting time.

The Made-to-Order option then gives the customer the possibility to take an existing design from the collection and personalize it by selecting the upper leather, the lining, the type of sole and many more details. These shoes are then made on the standard last, but to the customer’s specifications.

Made-to-Measure bridges the gap between Made-to-Order and full bespoke. Here, a standard last is adapted by me for the customer, and I have to say that with MTM, I can achieve about 90% of what can be done with bespoke.

Full Bespoke is, of course, the pinnacle where everything is made completely from scratch for the customer. The fit of the shoes is usually confirmed by 2-3 pairs of fitting shoes, in some cases, even more than 3. And everything from start to finish is made by me in my workshop.

I have a small workshop in the Umbria region of Italy, where the making of RTW, MTO and MTM takes place, but all the shoes are sent to me about 80% finished, and I then do the finishing in my workshop to sign off every shoe personally.

MTO and MTM now make up the main part of my work, I would say. I am limited in how many customers I can take on for bespoke work since I do the bespoke work all by myself. The differences between Bespoke and RTW, MTO and MTM are that soles are stitched by machine, which was the compromise I was willing to make in order to be able to offer them at a different price point. However, you can also have every MTO and MTM made fully by hand, just like the bespoke shoes.

Pricing is as follows:

• RTW: €1300 (€1500 for boots)
• MTO: from €1550
• MTM: from €1850
• Fully handmade MTO/MTM: €3000
• Bespoke: €5000

World Championship Plans

You won the World Championship in Shoemaking in 2025. Are you going for 2026?

I’d love to, but the reaction to last year’s win was so overwhelming and has certainly kept me busy keeping up with all the orders that I won’t find the time to enter again this year. I will certainly enter again in the coming years.

Impact of the Competition on Your Craft

How has the World Championship in Shoemaking shaped you? Do you feel it has made you a better shoemaker by trying to achieve the crown? i.e., pushed you to refine your skills?

I love this competition, and the spirit of bringing together shoemakers from all over the world to showcase their work. Every time I entered, it has pushed me to become a better shoemaker. When I entered for the first time in 2019, I stitched the soles with 16 stitches per inch, which, back then, was scary to me; I had never done it before.

After preparing the shoe, I felt more confident about my own work, and stitching this fine became normal. The same was 2023, The upper of the shoe had a seamless vamp, and the sole stitching became even finer at 20 stitches per inch.

In 2025, I tried to then really push myself to win the competition after finishing 6th and third. The upper was made completely with leather premolded on the last, decorated with a very fine handbraiding and the soles were stitched with 30 stitches per inch, which took me about 12 hours to complete. I can really say it has improved my work every time I entered the competition, and I’m really grateful for this platform, and I hope to see this competition further grow in the future.

Post-Win Recognition & Demand

In all honesty, I did not know you before you entered the World Champ contest (for the first time), but since then, I have followed you vehemently and was happy to see you win and your hard work pay off. Have you noticed more interest from customers in the last year since you took first place? Or is it about the same?

It definitely increased a lot after the win. I think in our industry, customers usually shop with a lot of patience and observe the work you put out there for a while before they place their first order, which makes a lot of sense given the price of the shoes. After winning the gold medal, I feel like I could win some trust from customers all over the world who might not even have seen my shoes in person, but now feel comfortable to place an order. In this way, the gold medal kind of acts as a promise that you will receive something crafted with great care and quality.

Lead Times & Working Process

What is the current lead time on a pair of bespoke shoes? You seem to be doing a lot yourself. Do you have a team or are you alone?

Yes, bespoke is done entirely by me, from taking the measurements to polishing the finished shoe, the only exception being the closing of the upper. Making bespoke shoes is just too complex to pass it on to somebody else, in my opinion. There are so many little details that matter, and I prefer to take care of that myself.

The time after taking the measurements until the first fitting is about 3 months. Then it depends a bit on how many fittings are necessary for me and the customer to be happy, but it’s usually about 12 months from placing the order until receiving the final pair. This only accounts for the first pair, where the last is made for the customer.

Once the last is ready after the first order, it is 3-4 months for every pair that is made. And the consecutive pairs can also be ordered from a distance if the customer wishes.

Currently, there is a waiting list for bespoke shoes of about one year.

For MTO, the lead time is 8-12 weeks, and for MTM 12-16 weeks.

Future Plans for the Mogada/Louis Lampertsdörfer

What are your plans for the future of the brand? Retail shops? Expansion plans? Or just hiring more people to help you with your current business?

My main concern is the quality of my work. Making welted shoes on this level requires a lot of attention to detail and trying to always go the extra mile when possible. At the same time, I still want the brand to be accessible for everyone passionate about shoes, and I think the RTW collection is a good offer for that. I will extend this collection this year with more loafers, and a new classic round loafer last, something a lot of people have been asking about. For now, I focus rather on growing the brand organically and making sure the customers love their shoes. That is more important to me than fast expansion.

US Market & Trunk Show Plans

Any plans for US trunk shows? Do you get much interest here in the US?

I have quite a few customers from the US with whom I usually schedule a video call to discuss their order, and at some point, I will also be travelling to the US for sure, for now my trunk shows are only in Europe, though.

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I hope that everyone has enjoyed this piece about Louis Lampertsdörfer. And if you did not know him or his work, make sure to check out his website here: https://mogada.de/

—Justin FitzPatrick, The Shoe Snob

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