We absolutely love Crown Northampton over here—the (believe it or not) Northampton, England based brand founded and run by 5th-generation shoemaker Chris Woodford.
Chris is trained as a full-spectrum bespoke maker, but about half a decade ago decided to build the best sneaker he possibly could, with the best materials and resolable construction methods out there.
It’s no stretch to say that Crown accomplished exactly that with its Harlestone Hand-Stitch sneakers—especially their stunning Horween shell cordovan models, which are built on a foundation of oak-bark tanned leather guts from 163-year-old tannery J&FJ Baker.
Until Chris schemed up the Ernest Wholecut, that is. The shoe that raises the question: how could a sneaker even be close to worth $1500+??
Well, when it’s legitimately handmade in basically every way, leverages Baker oak-bark-tanned upper leather as well as internals (along with an Italian baby-calf lining), and is built with an innovative double-welt construction by the same makers who create the $5000+ bespoke shoes for Crown’s sister brand E. Woodford & Sons? It all starts to make a ton of sense.
And luckily for you, we’ve teamed up with Heddels, Shoegazing, Worn & Wound, and Rose Anvil (no he won’t cut yours in half) to give away a pair of Crown Northampton Ernest Wholecut Sneakers.
To enter the giveaway, all you have to do is drop your email on this page before September 15, 2025. The one lucky winner will be notified by email and have 24 hours to confirm their shipping and size information.
All entrants will be signed up for all partners’ newsletters—which of course you can unsubscribe at any time.
GOOD LUCK TO ALL!!
Also!! Of course Crown Northampton, E. Woodford, Chris, and these incredible shoes will be at our Stitchdown’s Boot Camp 2025 Chicago mega-expo this Nov. 8th—along with dozens of other shoemakers, bootmakers, tanneries, and other ridiculously high-quality goods.
And hopefully you! If you’re in the Midwest you’ve got basically no excuse for not making it. But wherever you are, we highly recommend making a quick trip to Chicago for the world’s largest quality footwear expo and community bash. Boot Camp just keeps getting more special every year, and we’d love to see you there. Promise you won’t regret it.
And good luck in this giveaway! Plus another massive thank you to Crown and all our partners.