Representing from 3 different countries and cultures, a Japanese, a Singaporean, and a Norwegian have made the finals in the shoe-shining contest. For the patina event, the finalists consist of a Singaporean and two guys from France. A very diverse gathering yet at the same time, often representing what we have seen in previous years whereby there is almost always some from France in the patina and someone from Japan for the shoe-shining.
These are the finalists of the world champ’s contests taking place during the London Super Trunk Show on May 7. See their submissions here.
You may read all about the London Super Trunk Show in this article, and great if you can visit the event’s Facebook page and let us know you’re coming and help share the event. It is organized by Shoegazing and myself at The Shoe Snob Blog and takes place on Saturday, May 7, in the heart of London at the venue Showcase.co on 12 Regent Street.
Here we will gather 10 great exhibitors, Acme Shoemaker, Bridlen, Catella Shoemaker, CNES Shoemaker, Modum, Mori of Shoemakers, Norman Vilalta, Paolo Scafora, Septieme Largeur, Skolyx / TLB Mallorca, and Zeb Shoes. The main partner of the event is Saphir, other partners are Cad & the Dandy and The Valet. The World Championships in Shoemaking will have its award ceremony and competition shoes displayed. And finally the events of the Championships in Shoe-Shing and Patina takes place during a good portion of the entire event, where one person of each category will be crowned World Champion.
The qualification process and also how the finals will unfold is thoroughly explained in this article, so here we focus on showcasing the finalists’ submissions and briefly let you know who they are. Both the World Championships in Shoe Shining and Shoe Patina are organized in collaboration with Saphir, shining contestants shine and can win a Loake shoe, patina contestants paint and can win a TLB Mallorca shoe. We had almost 40 submissions to the two contests (thank you to all who sent in submissions!), literally from all over the world, both amateurs and many professionals. It was a challenging job for the jurys to select the finalists, in the end these received most jury points and made it to London:
World Championships in Shoe Shining 2022 finalists
Ash Sam, Singapore. Ash Sam is working at the shoe-shine shop Mason & Smith in Singapore and has done stunning work on his entry. A pair of Yohei Fukuda shoes polished to a massive shine sure means eye candy. Probably evident to most why this made him to the final.
Naoki Ueda, Japan. From the shoe-shine shop Penny Lane Shoeshine Boys, PLSB, in Osaka, we have Naoki Ueda. His entry shows a very nicely worked shine, with extreme mirror gloss on the toe and heel and nice smooth transitions of the shine in between these areas. Clearly a shine for an actual client shoe, with less work on the vamp area where the shoes will crease.
Christian Vingsand, Norway. Here’s a great example of how an amazing shine can enhance the look of used shoes a lot. Christian Vingsand runs a shine service in Trondheim, Norway, These here also have a nice shine on the sole- and heel edges which further enhance the look of the shoes.
World Championships in Shoe Patina 2022 finalists
Sony Mai, France. Sony Mai, who is originally from Vietnam but lives in Paris. He has worked for five years at Maison Corthay as a patina specialist. The patina on his entry is relatively toned down, though clearly high class, with a great way of enhancing the chiseled toe’s last shape with how the patina is done on the toe box.
John Chung, Singapore. This is a bit special, in two ways, the fact that the winner of the world champs in shoe shining 2018, John Chung, is back in the patina contest, while his colleague at Mason & Smith, Ash, made it to the shine final this year. The patina on his entry has a tremendous depth and a natural, earthy feel over it, a pair of shoes you can really be mesmerized by.
Toan Junie, France. In this case, one has to try and look beyond the incredibly artistic shoe, and focus on the actual patina work on it, which indeed is very nicely done and enhances each separate surface of this ‘rock shoe’. It is harder than it looks and takes an incredible amount of patience and finesse. Toan Junie has worked as a patina colorist for a couple of different firms in France for a few years now.
