Houston attorney Tony Buzbee partners with shoe brand Concetto Limone

Tucked behind the wood-paneled law offices of the Hogg Building is a little corner of Italy. This converted reservation is where personal injury attorney Marcus Spagnoletti maintains his business, a direct-to-consumer shoe company called Concetto Limone.

“When I was still at university, about 20 years ago, I was invited with friends to Capri, which is like Beverly Hills in Italy. At the end of a beaten path, there was this little stand where they made shoes out of raffia and put on a sole. “I bought a pair with laces, with a wing toe, without the patterns, and a pair of moccasins,” he recalls.

“I was coming back from college or law school and I was at the Galleria. Men don’t usually talk to other men about the shoes they wear, but they were asking me.”

This has happened to him several times over the years. Marcus said he didn’t wear raffia shoes very often, except in the summer, when the heat became unbearable.

Then in 2018, during a trip to Kemah with his daughter, a man walked across the boardwalk to ask Marcus where he bought his shoes. “I said to myself right away, I’m going to try to make this happen,” he says. “I don’t have social media. And I’m not a fashion enthusiast.”

What he did have was a friend in the shoe business. Marcus had seen Matthew Chevallard launch Del Toro Shoes, sold in 2019, and become a consultant.

They teamed up, spent time on branding and trademarks, before hosting a coming out party in Miami, where Chevallard is based, in January 2020. Then COVID hit and Concetto Limone went inactive .

There were some glimmers of success while the world was shut down. GQ magazine wrote a rave review: “When your shoes – like these Concetto Limone woven loafers – look like they were stolen from the Il Pellicano hotel in Tuscany, you know you’re doing it right. » And a number of A-list influencers have gotten their hands on pairs. Content creator Alix Earle recently released her Natural Raffia Loafers ($450) as part of her Summer 2024 trip.

“I wanted to offer men and women the slip-on, it’s the unisex style,” explains Marcus. “The idea for slides came from my very basic market research. (Women) liked the idea of ​​not having to tie their shoes.”

In spring 2021, he soft-debuted a coral-colored loafer at a Concetto Limone event hosted by Valobra Jewelerys. Soon after, the color became part of his backstage inventory. Customers also started asking for a black option. It would be necessary to wait for the intervention of a renowned lawyer for the brand to take a more colorful turn.

“I’ve known (Marcus) and his father for many years. They’re very good people,” Tony Buzbee told the Chronicle. “I became interested in the brand because I love their simple elegance. I asked him if he wanted help, so I came up with it and joined the effort as owner.”

“We teamed up with Tony and decided to create additional colorways,” says Marcus. “Tony got involved in the spring of last year. I was talking to him on my honeymoon about different colors.”

Pink with light blue and natural with navy launched earlier this year. This last color combination is Marcus’ favorite. Lying on the floor of his office, surrounded by raffia shoes, he hints that matching belts are something he’d also like to do. Lately, the men have also been asking her to make a sturdy green moccasin.

It’s on his to-do list. Just like organizing other pop-up events in Texas.

Currently, most business is generated through social media. The raffia uppers are produced in Morocco and sent to a factory north of Naples. There, the soles are added and the shoes are assembled, packaged and shipped to the Hogg building. Upstairs, in the small back office of the Spagnoletti law firm, surrounded by packages covered with lemon and the smell of straw shoes, it almost feels like this alley in Capri.

“I have an assistant who has worked with me for many years and who handles orders and sends them out, sometimes working nights,” says Marcus. “They wear two different hats: a totally utilitarian actor.”