Footwear renaissance with Gourmet Footwear
Gourmet Footwear is all about style and magnificence, grandiosity, making a difference. Founded by Jon Buscemi, Greg Johnsen, and Greg Lucci in 2005, the brand’s aesthetic manifesto combines American and Italian influences, like the perfect casual, meets the forever stylish.
All of Gourmet’s collections seem to rightly materialize that refined dualism. We spoke with Jon Buscemi, one of Gourmet’s founders, and also the brand’s Chief Marketing Officer.
The thrill of a brand new piece, the future of the business and the collabs to come are just some of the topics. Read below.
Could you please tell us a little bit of Gourmet Footwear’s history?
In 2007, to complement our already existing apparel collection, we produced a shoe as an accent to the above-mentioned collection. The two footwear pieces produced were a tribute to a famed basketball player’s footwear line.
The goal was to take the guts out of the original design to make it more casual. We ended up selling multiple thousands of pairs. This put us on the map as a footwear co. From then until now we have created unique and original footwear pieces.
What is the most thrilling thing about designing a brand new piece of footwear?
This has to be the arrival of the first physical sample. We design the shoe and send it to a R&D facility overseas and it takes 4-6 weeks to show up in the flesh.
Opening the box for the first time and seeing something that was the only 2D on a screen come to life is and always never gets old.
How does the creative process work at Gourmet? Is it an all teamwork? What comes first?
The creative process hasn’t really changed from inception. The group of us contributes to the collection, whether it is re-colours or new fabrics or new ground-up projects. We all have our hands on most everything here…
Then, now and the future of Gourmet:
What can you tell us about upcoming Gourmet collaborations?
We are very excited about the Black Scale double-label we are launching this summer.
We took our favorite model the 35 and paired it with rare imported Italian leather. The mini-collection will also feature a few accessories, hat and leather jacket. Stay tuned…
Do you believe that the style of a man has all to do with his shoes?
It has a lot to do with it but not everything. I’ve seen my least favorite shoes pulled off correctly with the right look. Everything is relative…
How do you foresee the future of the footwear business?
The business is very item driven. With the access to ideas and production so accessible and the ability for style to spread so quickly, the future is one off’s in my opinion. small runs of special unique pieces…
Get to know more about Gourmet Footwear.