Cordwainers Footwear Awards Adds Craft of Shoemaking Prize to 2025 Honors
Stephen Garner
Senior Editor
The Worshipful Company of Cordwainers is launching a new prize for the 2025 edition of its annual Footwear Awards to celebrate and promote Britain’s shoemaking heritage.
Called the Craft of Shoemaking Award, the honor was proposed and is sponsored by Cordwainer members and award-winning bespoke shoemakers Carréducker.
Founded in 2004 by Deborah Carré and James Ducker, Carréducker has championed the heritage craft of handsewn shoemaking for over 20 years, demonstrating at events such as London Craft Week, and through courses and classes at its shoemaking school in London since 2006.
The Company is encouraging shoemaking students or recent graduates, apprentices and non-professional shoemakers to apply to the award. There is no age limit, but applicants must be UK-based. Applications are now open through April 23, 2025.
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Entrants are invited to make a pair of shoes or boots in any style, including orthopedic or athletic; for men, women or children; using any construction methods but with an emphasis on hand skills; and that are functional and wearable.
The winning entry will receive a package in the form of specialist training over 100-plus hours at the Carréducker School, covering pattern making, closing techniques and handsewn shoemaking.
Carré told FN in an interview she was “delighted” when the Company “leapt at the opportunity” to support up and coming makers by partnering with Carréducker.
“We believe that everyone should have access to craft training. That’s why we’ve championed heritage British shoemaking skills for over two decades and developed a course that teaches complete beginners the 200 steps in making a pair of handsewn shoes,” Carré said. “That’s where the Craft of Shoemaking Award comes in, to give those shoemakers – the vocational practitioners, apprentices, pieceworkers, outworkers and factory workers… the chance to shine.”
“With shoe and boot making listed as’endangered by Heritage Crafts, we want to showcase and encourage the incredible shoemaking talent that is here in the UK,” Jonathan Church, the Master of the Cordwainers, added. “We have a worldwide reputation for excellence in British shoemaking but there has been a dramatic drop in people entering the trade. It’s putting our reputation and the industry’s future at risk. We want to excite the next generation of shoemakers about the craft and to encourage them to become part of this very successful billion-pound footwear industry.”
The inaugural Craft of Shoemaking Award will be presented at a ceremony in London on June 12, 2025, and all finalists will be invited to attend. The annual Cordwainers Footwear Awards support and recognize up and coming footwear designers and makers. The judging panel for the Craft of Shoemaking Award will be chaired by Carré and Ducker.
