Chicago’s Ravenswood neighborhood is playing host this week to a gathering built for people who care deeply about what’s on their feet. Stitchdown Expo programming runs Thursday, November 5 through Saturday, November 7, with the Expo at Artifact Events on November 6 and 7 and activities spanning multiple venues. It includes a materials trade show and main Expo floor, workshops at the Chicago School of Shoemaking, tannery tours at Horween Leather Co. and other activities at Live Bash. Organizers describe it as a global footwear event showcasing makers across clothing, leather goods, tailoring and other thoughtfully made retail categories.
The full schedule, posted by stitchdownexpo.com, lays out three days of programming at multiple venues, including Artifact Events. Thursday activities include events at Live Bash, Horween Leather Co. and Optimo Hat Factory. Friday’s schedule includes workshops at the Chicago School of Shoemaking. Tickets are required to get onto the Expo floor itself, with VIP access opening at 9 a.m. and general admission starting at 11 a.m. One of the more exclusive offerings is a behind-the-scenes look at Horween Leather Co., though those tours also require VIP tickets and are capped at 30 people per group.
As WGN-TV reported in its Stitchdown Expo: Global Footwear Extravaganza segment, the event is billed as a global footwear gathering returning to Chicago, spotlighting makers across clothing, leather goods and tailoring. The piece, authored by Sarah Jindra and Amy Rutledge, featured guests Ben and Levi joining WGN-TV to discuss the Expo as part of Spotlight Chicago, which airs weekdays on WGN from 1 p.m. to 2 p.m.
A Trunk Show Relocates From New York
Alongside the Expo, the Chicago Super Trunk Show is set for November 6 and 7 at the same Artifact Events venue, according to shoegazing.com. The move marks a shift for organizers, who told theshoesnobblog.com they are moving their U.S. event from New York to Chicago for this edition. The first American Super Trunk Show launched in New York in 2023 and, per the same shoegazing.com account, drew roughly 15 shoe and menswear brands and around 1,000 visitors each year.
For 2026, the event aims to bring together more than 2,000 attendees and more than 50 shoe brands and other quality-goods makers and suppliers, a notable jump from the New York show’s earlier scale. The event is also planned to include live shoemaking and high-end repair happening on-site, giving attendees a chance to watch craftspeople at work rather than just browse finished product.
Shoe Shining Gets a Continental Upgrade
One of the more distinctive additions this year is a planned expansion of the shoe-shining competition into what organizers are calling The Americas Championships of Shoe Shining. According to theshoesnobblog.com, the contest is opening participation to competitors from across North and South America, broadening what had been a more limited field into a hemispheric showcase for the craft.
Between the HIDE materials trade show for industry professionals, the Horween tannery tours, the newly relocated trunk show and the expanded shining championship, organizers have assembled a dense itinerary across multiple venues this week. Whether the event reaches its aims of 2,000-plus attendees and 50-plus brands will become clear after the two-day show wraps up November 7.
