Alessandro Dell'Acqua's Street Sweet Sneakers

Alessandro Dell'Acqua is adored by fashionistas for his artful ready-to-wear collections, but he has just as many fans on the street. For the past several years, the designer's flamboyant sneaker line has found favor with sneaker freaks the world over. And, thanks to the line's recent arrival at influential retailer Kitson Men, we're guessing it won't be long before Hollywood follows suit.

The kicks—which are reminiscent of the gleamy Raf Simons, Lanvin and Pierre Hardy models already popular among fashion followers—began arriving on Kitson's shelves just two months ago. According to the retailer's vice president, Dean Khial, buyers picked custom colorways for each of the four pairs on offer, ensuring that each style is tailored to suit their clientele. "We went big on patents and metallics, a look that's big with our customers right now," he says. The end result is undeniably slick—there are burgundy patent lo-tops, a surrealist-inspired pair of white canvas hi-tops (covered with shoelace eyelets and a zip-up back) as well as patent and satin canvas Velcro styles in both hi-top and lo.

And yet these designs are all about flash and function. "The Italian leather is so soft, a new pair feels as comfortable as ones you've spent years breaking in," assures Khial. The fall collection is set to drop at the end of this month, but at press time, there's still no hint of what's set to arrive. "We don't even see samples—we have no idea what the shoes will look like until they're in the store," Khial says. As mainstream as these sneakers may go, it looks like some things are still underground as ever.

For more information, visit www.shopkitson.com.

—Erin Magner