The WSJ Shines the Spotlight on Jon Buscemi and His $800 Sneakers

The Wall Street Journal recently interviewed Jon Buscemi to discuss his eponymous sneaker company, which has quickly garnered a following for its luxurious high-top sneakers. Certainly no stranger to the footwear industry, Mr. Buscemi first made major waves with Gourmet before moving on to found Greats and Buscemi. With Buscemi, he’s been able to corner the market for high-end sneakers by using only the finest materials and keeping his production in Italy. In the WSJ piece, he discusses how he was able to get stocked at the finest boutiques and the inspiration behind his sneakers. Check out an excerpt below and head here to read the piece in full.

The brand’s co-founder and creative director, Jon Buscemi, who started his career as a stockbroker, said he was able to snag prized shelf space in ritzy stores for his unknown shoe line by taking the sneaker industry’s limited-edition strategy to the extreme. Instead of issuing a series of limited-run models, he decided to invent a whole brand that would be known for its 

He said he was inspired by the Hermès Birkin bag—an expensive, sought-after handbag that the French company doesn’t advertise and offers only to selected customers.

Mr. Buscemi and his partners said they wanted to create a sneaker-world equivalent. “I can’t just walk around with a purse,” said Buscemi’s vice president of marketing, Rob Heppler, a streetwear blogger who was working at an ad agency when he helped hatch the plan with Mr. Buscemi, his friend.