How luxury sneaker brand Buscemi got its big break from a rap shout-out

For streetwear brands, nothing signifies relevance more than a shout-out by a rapper on a track. That moment came for luxury sneaker label Buscemi when rapper 2 Chainz mentioned the brand’s HK$9,000 shoes in one of his songs. It wasn’t long before Justin Bieber and P. Diddy were showing off their own pairs on Instagram, taking the brand from relatively unknown to a cult favourite almost overnight.

Expensive sports shoes aren’t exactly a new thing in fashion – brands such as Gucci and Dior create new styles each season, and sneaker heads have been collecting limited-edition styles from brands such as Nike for decades. Buscemi, in less than three years since its founding in Los Angeles, has captured its own slice of the market.

“I hate using the word luxury because it’s used so much, but going forward we have the opportunity to be new luxury,” explains founder Jon Buscemi.

“There aren’t many brands out there that are redefining what ‘luxury’ means, to really focus on styling, quality and how it’s made. With us you are not just paying for a logo. This is the best sneaker in the world.”

A former investment banker, Buscemi started his career in footwear by working for brands such as DC Shoes and Oliver Peoples before starting the brand Gourmet with fellow sneaker fan Rob Heppler. His love for trainers, he says, goes as far back as his childhood in Long Island, New York.

“Growing up in New York meant that we were almost forced into fashion. I grew up in an area where there were different cultures so I was influenced by so many things. The biggest part was what you were wearing. It was always about the right polo shirt, the best jeans and of course your sneakers. I bought my first pair at the age of six and it stuck,” says Buscemi.