Mast Trainer

Founded in 2012 by Minoru Matsuura as part of BRASS Tokyo, Clinch produces between 800 and 1,000 pairs of boots annually using traditional hand-lasting and welting techniques. The Mast Trainer represents the company's approach to recreating vintage athletic footwear styles with contemporary Japanese craftsmanship standards.

The Mast Trainer draws its design inspiration from sports shoes of the 1920s and 1930s era, representing an early form of athletic footwear. The boot's construction combines horsehide leather with cotton canvas in a design that reflects the vintage aesthetic of early 20th-century athletic shoes.

This model demonstrates Clinch's approach to heritage recreation, using traditional bootmaking techniques to produce footwear that captures the essence of historical athletic designs while incorporating modern construction standards.

The Mast Trainer utilizes Blake rapid construction, a process that allows for resoling and long-term maintenance. The boot is built on Clinch's CN-MT last, which features handcrafted wooden construction with "hand-drawn" shaping designed to improve fit characteristics.

Materials include black horsehide leather combined with khaki cotton canvas, creating the boot's distinctive two-tone appearance. The construction includes black eyelets and comes with extra khaki shoelaces. As with all Clinch boots, the manufacturing process is approximately 90 percent handmade, incorporating hand-lasting and hand-welting techniques performed by Matsuura and his team of craftspeople.

The company sources materials from Italian, French, and Japanese tanneries, maintaining quality standards across their limited annual production. Production is divided among several Tokyo locations, with bottom making and finishing handled at the main site while upper assembly occurs on upper floors of their facilities.

The Mast Trainer is available in nine sizes ranging from CLINCH8 (US size 7) to CLINCH12 (US size 11), with half sizes offered throughout the range. Pricing in the Japanese market is ¥57,200 including tax.

As part of Clinch's international distribution strategy, approximately 70 percent of the company's boots are sold outside Japan. The United States accounts for roughly half of international sales, followed by European and Asian markets. The limited annual production of 800 to 1,000 pairs across all Clinch models means availability can be constrained.

The boot reflects Clinch's position within the heritage footwear market, where the combination of traditional Japanese craftsmanship and vintage-inspired design appeals to collectors and enthusiasts of heritage athletic and work-inspired footwear.