2027 Craft of Shoemaking Award

Register NOW for the Craft of Shoemaking Award 2027 Email [email protected]

The Craft of Shoemaking Award first prize is £3000 from the Worshipful Company of Cordwainers

12 days of handsewn shoemaking training with bespoke London shoemakers, Carreducker

5 days of shoe pattern making and closing with bespoke footwear specialist, Fiona Campbell.

WHO CAN ENTER

The Craft of Shoemaking Award is open to anyone making shoes in the UK

Students

(either current or recent graduates)

Apprentices

Cobblers and Repairers

Outworkers

Non-professional shoemakers

(who may work for a shoe business, but are not selling their shoes at commercial prices or under their own name)

There is no age limit

The Worshipful Company of Cordwainers is an inclusive organisation and welcomes submissions from entrants of all ages, backgrounds, faiths and cultures.

A&A Crack are generously providing a 20% discount to entrants for leather bought to make shoes and boots for the competition.

Please make sure that you have registered for the award with us first and then let them know that you are purchasing leather for your entry when you place your order.

MARKING

Entries are marked out of a maximum of 40 points as follows:

DESIGN & MATERIALS – 5 points

CHOICE OF LAST – 5 points

CLICKING & CLOSING (patterns and uppers) – 8 points for techniques / 4 points for execution

MAKING – 8 points for techniques / 4 points for execution

FINISHING – 6 points

EXTERNAL HELP – any practical external help, one point deducted for each section

2027 JUDGING PANEL

The judging panel’s expertise covers design, last making, closing, pattern making, bottom making and manufacturing.

Fiona Campbell

Fiona Campbell is a much sought-after bespoke footwear specialist and speaker delivering lectures at the V&A and for LCF/UAL in London, Dubai and Singapore.

Her expertise as a designer, closer and pattern maker has seen her train the design team for Dunhill, Manolo Blahnik, Selfridges and Harrods and UK manufacturers such as Bowhill & Elliott and Alfred Sargent.

In 2008, she received the Leathersellers Guild Award for her research into sustainable materials for footwear.

Today Fiona specialises in bespoke pattern making tutoring and continues to pursue her interest in material development.

Sarah Day

Sarah Day has enjoyed a prolific commercial footwear design career and academic presence in the trade spanning 37 years. She taught at UAL for 20 years and was Course Leader for the BA Cordwainers Footwear course mentoring students and staff alike.

She is an avid supporter of footwear education and positively encourages the fusion of traditional craft skills with new technology in footwear design.

Sarah is an External Examiner at Capel Manor College, has judged the annual Drapers Footwear Awards and Chairs the Cordwainers Trade & Education Committee.

Liam Fahy

Liam Fahy is an award-winning British-Irish footwear designer, born and raised in Zimbabwe. He is the founder of Studio Fahy, a footwear design consultancy working with some of the world’s best brands.

He studied Footwear Design at De Montfort University, where he won multiple awards before receiving the inaugural Fashion Fringe Accessories Award in 2008, judged by Manolo Blahnik. The award led him to work with renowned British shoe designer Rupert Sanderson in Italy.

In 2011, Fahy launched his own label, Liam Fahy London, produced in Italy amongst artisans from Dior, Givenchy and Margiela. He is a two-time recipient of the British Fashion Council’s NEWGEN award, whose past recipients include Alexander McQueen, JW Anderson and Christopher Kane.

Through Studio Fahy, he now applies this same design and craftsmanship philosophy at scale, guiding footwear and leather goods brands across design, development and brand identity. He also writes DIRT (Design Ideas and Random Thoughts), a weekly shoesletter exploring the design, history and culture behind footwear, for professionals across the industry.

Tony Gaziano

Tony Gaziano co-founded Gaziano & Girling with Dean Girling in 2006 and their business has grown to become one of the most influential additions to the British shoemaking scene.

Tony honed his shoemaking skills at George Cleverley and Edward Green before founding his eponymous company. Drawn to the challenge of creating something visually beautiful and practical, Tony and Dean combine a designer’s eye with a deep respect for the practical skills of shoemaking, taking classic models and refining their curves, lines and proportions, while finding new ways to combine English and continental styles.

As Tony says, “the beauty of handmade shoes lies partly in the individuality of the maker—the “fingerprint” left by skilled hands—and in the natural characteristics of leather itself”.
The high level of handwork in Gaziano & Girling shoes illustrates how traditional craftsmanship remains innovative and relevant.

Caroline Groves

Caroline Groves is passionate about creating handmade, bespoke shoes for women of unparalleled quality, striving to achieve museum-worthy results and delighting her clients.

Her work reflects the finest traditions of British bespoke shoe craftsmanship, blended with the fine needlework of Parisian couture. Her creations are borne from over 30 years of experience across the highly skilled disciplines of saddlery, leathercraft and shoemaking, whilst the sculptural elements of shoemaking, an interest in period costume and her Arts and Crafts heritage are a constant inspiration. (Caroline’s great-grandfather was one of the 150 craftspeople to bring the Guild of Handicraft to Chipping Camden in 1902).

Caroline frequently travels to the USA to meet with private clients. Her bespoke creations are regularly exhibited and showcased in museums and have earned numerous awards.

Michael James

Michael James is known as ‘the last man of Northampton’ and is Director of Spring Line lasts. He has been with the company for over 40 years, having joined on a youth training scheme in 1983. Michael initially worked across all aspects of the factory before specialising in last making.

He is a highly skilled craftsman – a last model maker and a new model developer – overseeing a team of over 20 people making lasts for some of the UK’s biggest names in footwear – Trickers, Cheaney etc. and wooden lasts for bespoke.

Michael sits on the Cordwainers Trade & Education Committee.

PAST WINNERS

2025 CoSA winner, Caleb Smyth and their boots.

2026 CoSA winner, Matt Gill and his boots.

Photography: Mark Witter