On the latest episode of Complex's Blueprint series, Complex Editor-in-Chief Noah Callahan-Bever sat down with footwear designer and founder of Buscemi Jon Buscemi.
One of the more notable topics discussed throughout the interview is Buscemi conquering his lawsuit battle with Nike during his time with the brand Gourmet back in 2008. This lawsuit came about when the brand decided to release models that took design cues from classic Air Jordan models: the Air Jordan 7 and Air Jordan 11. The canvas uppers bared a striking resemblance to the classic basketball silhouettes, and were placed atop of a vulcanized sole to give them a more casual appeal.
After experiencing success with this formula, Gourmet would continue creating models inspired by classic Air Jordans until eventually Nike caught wind of what the brand was doing. According to Buscemi, Gourmet's designs hit Nike's radar after about six months of the sneakers being on the market. The Swoosh promptly hit them with a federal lawsuit for the "stolen" designs.
Clearly, the brand was prepared for this because the shoes were ironically named the "Cease" and the "Desist," respectively. Gourmet would eventually countersue Nike. What ultimately could have turned into a massive issue for Buscemi and the rest of the Gourmet team was solved when the team paid a visit to Nike representatives in Portland, and was simply told to stop selling the models in question.
As Gourmet folded, Buscemi would go on to launch his own eponymous luxury-inspired lifestyle label, most known in the footwear space for its 100MM sneaker.
Make sure to check out the rest of the interview with Buscemi in the video player above.
