As leatherworkers and saddlers, most of us look up to large traditional shows, like the World Leather Debut, as the gold standard of our craft. These competitions have always represented the ultimate pinnacle—a place to see the absolute elite, and where flawless mastery of the basics is expected. That makes what was seen at this year's 2026 event all the more surprising.

I'd like to open a serious discussion here in the community about where the current judging criteria are actually heading.

Artistic Impression vs. Foundations of the Craft

While looking through this year's awarded pieces, one specific project stood out for the wrong reasons. Although it was a piece with a strong design, the quality of the stitching (stitch spacing, tension, line consistency) resembled beginner attempts rather than master-level work.

(See attached photo for context)

Let me be perfectly clear: this is not a personal attack on the maker. We can all respect the massive amount of time, work, and creativity that goes into every project of this scale. However, clean and consistent stitching isn't just a "minor detail." It is one of the fundamental pillars of our craft, which should be uncompromisingly mastered before a piece can even be considered top-tier.

This opens up a fundamental question: Is the focus of judging in prestigious categories shifting more towards the overall artistic scale at the expense of the cleanliness of the craft itself? Should visible technical flaws be outweighed by the story and complexity of the design?

Transparency and the "Old Boys' Club"

Another thing that seriously concerns many makers is how difficult it is to publicly raise this kind of question. Recently, an attempt was made to politely bring this topic up in a large leatherworking Facebook group. The result? The post was immediately deleted, and the user was banned from the group without any discussion.

If these competitions are supposed to represent the best of the best, questions about judging criteria, transparency, and consistency shouldn't be perceived as an attack. When visible mistakes appear on an awarded piece and the discussion is instantly silenced, it naturally raises doubts about what goes on behind closed doors.

Decline in Competitors and New Formats

It’s also impossible to overlook that there was a noticeably lower number of physical entries on the tables this year. It seems that logistics, costs, and a lack of feedback are deterring many top-tier makers, who are starting to skip traditional shows. Newer competition formats, such as the Las Vegas Leather Masters, provide participants with detailed and transparent score sheets. They are clearly pulling the modern generation of makers away from the old model because creators want to know exactly how and why they were judged.

I would love to hear the community's perspective. For those of you who followed this year's event or participate in top-tier competitions:

• Where do you think the line should be drawn between technical execution and artistic impact?
• Should master-level competitions require flawless mastery of the basics before the design and story are even evaluated?
• Are the standards for "master quality" changing, and do you feel traditional competitions have become less transparent?

Looking forward to a factual and constructive debate.

[effacé]