I will strike a blow for traditional shapes...
There are not many guys who make unadorned classics, especially in smaller sizes, but there's a Greek dude named Chris Asteriou who absolutely kicks ass.
They comprise about 50% of his output and are worth checking out if you have a chance at a show sometime. (The other 50% is modern-y Danish-y stuff that is top quality work, but doesn't break any new ground, imo.)
His traditionals, though, are an amazing meld of late 19th / early 20th century primness, ultra-clean Classic Danish lines (think Teddy Knudson), English shape chart identifiability, and 21st century execution. Absolutely flawless in hand.
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As for my favorite among 'Murricans? That's tough. All the established first rank guys can dazzle---Jeff Gracik, Rod Davies, BAW, etc---and many of the "started in the last five years" crowd can, too. Hell, there's even a few 2-3 year talent monsters who are progressing on Fast Forward. So, I'm gonna cop out and say my cat, Daisy. She nibbled away most of a can's-worth of Friskies Salmon Banquet the other day leaving behind a pipe-ish shape (cats rarely finish their food) that dried by morning into into a lovely blowfish, so she qualifies.
You go, grrrl:
UFOs must be real. There's no other explanation for cats.