In June 2013, Jon Buscemi debuted a collection of luxury men’s sneakers that not so subtly sample Hermès’ iconic Birkin bag, with a gold padlock across the tongue of the high-tops and a curved handle on the back of the shoe. “I don’t confirm or deny the idea,” said Buscemi, when asked if the Birkin is indeed the subject of his sneaker homage. Part of the design was a riff on the obsession with sneakers as a cult luxury item, the way “It” bags are, “but the B-story line was that brands like Louis Vuitton, Gucci and Prada, they’ve been coming down into our world — the skate world, hip-hop, the street world, graffiti — and stealing from us for decades,” he said. “We’re going to go up into their world and [take] a page out of their book.”
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Neiman Marcus; Barneys New York; Colette, in Paris; and United Arrows, in Japan, picked up Buscemi’s men’s line, which was sized down to a 3 so that women could buy the sneakers, too. For spring 2015, Buscemi is launching a full women’s range, with flat high-tops, a wedge high-top, booties and fringed styles. There are also baby shoes, hats, small leather goods and a backpack, all made in Italy. Prices range from $250 (for baby shoes) to $795 to $2,570 (for sneakers).
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Buscemi is based in L.A. and is, in fact, related to Steve Buscemi — they are second cousins — though their worlds have barely collided, as Steve has been busy with his prolific acting career (“Boardwalk Empire,” “The Sopranos,” “Fargo” and so on) while his somewhat-distant relative has been working his way up the streetwear food chain for the past 14 years. Growing up in the skate culture in suburban Long Island, N.Y., he was a passionate sneaker collector, eventually building a collection of 600-plus styles, which helped him to get his first job, working on special projects at skateboard footwear brand DC Shoe Co. He went on to work as the creative director for Lotto USA, the Italian tennis and soccer brand, and as brand director for Oliver Peoples. He also cofounded the independent sneaker brand Gourmet.
The idea for a high-end line came to Buscemi at Pitti Uomo a few years ago, when he was introduced to his manufacturing and development partners. “The luxury-sneaker thing has been going on for a long time,” said Buscemi. “I didn’t look at it as, ‘Oh, this is white space — let me go after this market.’ It’s just been luck and perfect timing.”