Two weekends ago the first New York Super Trunk Show took place, and what a day it was. About 1,200 shoe and menswear lovers came through the doors and explored the offerings from the 17 exhibitors from around the world who presented. We also held a shoe patina exhibition, and the first U.S. shoe-shining championship took place. Here’s a summary of that day with loads of photos to help paint the picture.
A couple of days ahead of the event day, the weather forecast predicted a whopping 2 inches of rain (~40 mm) would fall on that same day. Not the best situation when you host an event and want people to make their way there. When the day arrived the rain wasn’t that extreme, nonetheless, it was still heavy and constant. The organizers of the event – Justin FitzPatrick of The Shoe Snob blog, Jesper Ingevaldsson of Shoegazing, and Kirby Allison – were indeed nervous about the turnout. When it’s the first time doing an event, no one can be sure of how things will go.
Even though we know we lost out on a bunch of visitors, a large number of locals defied the elements and made their way to the venue, together with a bunch of people traveling in from other parts of the U.S., plus some international visitors too. We had over 1,200 coming through the doors during the day. A great turnout indeed. When they entered the lovely venue, the Kosciuszko Foundation, from E 65th Street on the Upper East Side, between Madison Avenue and Central Park, they were greeted by a bright high-ceiling entrance hall. Here we had a patina exhibition throughout the day, with a pause for the shoe-shine final. There then was one room with exhibitors and a bar (where Hercules Mulligan generously served drinks the whole day) on the ground floor, and up the stairs was a large exhibition hall and another smaller room with a bunch of brands, both shoe brands, tailors, hat makers, and accessory brands.
The atmosphere was great throughout the day. Many visitors were really taking the time to check out all the exhibitors, try on for sizing, and talk to the brand representatives. All of the unique things that otherwise are difficult for most of the brands, who don’t have physical representation in the US, but are rather only available online. We were also happy to see that many people from the shoe industry around the country gathered here. Similar to how the London Super Trunk Show is an important meeting place for the European quality shoe world, the New York Super Trunk Show looks to become the equivalent for the American side.
In the shoe patina exhibition, which was organized in collaboration with Saphir and Bridlen with extra support from Kirby Allison, Greg Park of Han Core Patina, Chris Dillon of American Patina, and Steve “Shack” Shackleton painted and polished a pair of Bridlen crust leather austerity brogues, using Saphir products. To see these greyish shoes transform into colorful creations during the day is surely intriguing.
In the afternoon, the given highlight of the day took place, the first U.S. Championships of Shoe Shining. Three had qualified for the final. These were Levi Elliott from Plymouth IN, Sunny Yoo from Elliott City MD, and SSG Chadwick Winget, Arlington, VA. In front of a big crowd, they had 20 minutes to shine a brand new shoe from Bridlen as lovely looking and shiny as possible, with the use of Saphir Medaille d’Or Pate de Lux and Mirror Gloss wax polish. Crowned the first U.S. champion was eventually Levi Elliott, who won a pair of shoes from Bridlen, a shoe care valet box from Saphir and Kirby Allison, and a gold medal. You can see the live stream from the contest, as well as one covering the patina exhibition and touring the venue, below. More professional videos will come later on Kirby Allison’s YouTube channel.
The Platinum sponsors also had the largest exhibitor tables at the venue. Bridlen highlighted their use of full leather insoles, where the Goodyear seam is done directly to a channel of the insole, instead of gemming which is the use of a glued-on canvas rib and is the standard practice of today. They are one of the shoe factories in India that leads the way in offering proper premium welted footwear to the world, at excellent prices.
Saphir and Kirby Allison showcased a selection of products from the Medaille d’Or range, which is seen as the golden standard for premium shoe care. Ever since 1925 Saphir has been a leading producer of shoe care products containing natural ingredients, known not only for the excellent results achieved but also for the ease of use. They also constantly continue to develop new products, to cover all the needs one can find In the US Kirby Allison’s online store is one of the leading retailers of the brand.
Our Gold sponsors also had impressive exhibitions with all their lovely footwear. TLB Mallorca set a new record in the amount of shoes on one table at a super trunk, but despite this managed to showcase it in a clean and appealing way. The brand is most known for its sleek Artista range with shoes that look way more expensive than they are, but they also showed a number of great more casual styles. Next to them, we had the Chinese premium brand Acme, with their absolute top-class, fully handmade footwear that comes in all styles, shapes, and colors. From them, you can get shoes made to the same standard as the best bespoke in the world, directly off the shelf as RTW. There’s no surprise that Acme has become one of the most hyped brands in the classic shoe world lately.
For Silver sponsors, The Last Shoemaker had one of the most diverse tables with everything from clean minimalist shoes, one of their specialties, to crazily designed bespoke samples. Skolyx showcased their European-made Goodyear welted shoes and premium sneakers, as well as everything from workwear boots to Belgian loafers from the Spanish brand Yanko. One of the world’s finest hatmakers was present, Optimo, and they had several people ordering their fine, Chicago-made hats made to top-class standards. Norman Vilalta always does successful super trunk show exhibitions, and this was no different. People always appreciate his highly personal takes on quality footwear.
For us shoe nerds it’s extra nice to let new small brands get an opportunity to introduce themselves to a wider audience, here we had Old House Provisions, the bespoke brand of shoemaker Drew Altizer from Charlottesville, VA, which has something really good going with his classic casual style. The tailoring firm Lanieri has already conquered Europe, where people appreciate their excellent style, quality, and prices, now they continue with the US, where the super trunk is one piece of the puzzle. Another new, small American brand that instead focuses on Goodyear welted small batch shoes, with matching belts always included, is George Lyon Shoes. On the other end of the axle, we have industry longtimer Dominic Casey from the UK, who has worked for decades in the bespoke shoe industry and now runs his own successful bespoke shoe brand.
Divij Bespoke is a California-based tailoring firm that focuses a lot on achieving the perfect fit, and several visitors appreciated their approach and style. Some got measured and even placed orders on site. Justin Trewitt from Texas now works full time with his Dapper Woodworks project and showcased his impressive handcrafted wood pieces, everything from shelves to shoehorns, all with impeccable finishing. CNES from Singapore (via way of Vietnam-made shoes) offers some serious bang for the buck footwear, both Blake, Goodyear welted, and even hand welted. As usual they had a bunch of orders taken on-site (otherwise most of the sales for brands exhibiting at the the super trunk events actually take place the weeks after, when orders are placed online and via mail). Finally, we had Carmina part, who focused on introducing their very interesting, brand new digital bespoke service, where one 3D scan of the feet, a personalized last, and a pattern is created. With these, a pair is made on their regular line for Goodyear welted shoes.
We think it goes without saying that the New York Super Trunk Show definitely will come back next year. We who organize it want it, sponsors want it, and ultimately the visitors want it.
So, we shall see you all again next October!
Arthur Catalanotto
Thank you for sharing this event with your followers. It is great to see some of the familiar faces of those we all follow via the internet. Seems as though it was a fun time and I hope to make it next year.
Justin FitzPatrick
Always a pleasure
Shoebedo
Thanks for sharing the information