God these are some beautiful shoes, courtesy of Japanese cobbler sak, aka Hiruma. Elevating the art of shoe making to an artisanal level, the Japanese born sak chose to study and practice the art of Italian craftsmanship in Florence, Italy for nearly a decade. This is his third collaboration with Converse — after tackling the classic Chuck Taylor All Star and Jack Purcell One Star, he’s now moved on to the Star Tech shoe, a vintage basketball sneaker. “Hiruma artfully crafts the details of the Star Tech shoe using old-world construction techniques. Each individual shoe features beautiful, supple leathers — all hand-stitched from upper and rand to insole. Hiruma gives each shoe leather soles that echo finely made dress shoes, yet with ink-printed logos and trademark detail that give them a playful, comfortable feeling.” Available in only two styles — a natural tan shade and black leather — these shoes are premier luxury items. Only 64 pairs of each style will be produced, which is a true limited edition shoe not limited by prescribed marketing hype but by the fact that each shoe is meticulously crafted and hand-stitched — a rarity in the world of mass production and pseudo exclusivity. They will be available as of November 15th for $600 at exclusive boutiques John Varvatos (Bowery and Soho), Aloha Rag (New York), Concepts (Boston) and Blends (Costa Mesa). Well worth the coin, if you ask me.

A video of sak in action below, plus a look at the black leather sak for Converse Star Tech sneaker after the Jump…

via Hypebeast