Dolce & Gabbana heels, Gucci loafers, Nike high-tops, and Riccardo Tisci
himself: These things might sound like the ingredients of a fashion lover’s dreams. But in Yujia Hu’s world, they’re just another piece of sushi. The Milan-based chef and artist, who goes by The Onigiri Art on Instagram, started concocting visual art out of sushi just one year ago in his family’s sushi restaurant, Sakana Sushi.
His creations weren’t always about fashion. He started experimenting with rice, sashimi, and nori to create NBA players, rappers, and movie characters. In fact, his first piece of art was a tribute to Michael Jordan. It was only after he created the basketball star’s shoes the Air Jordan 1 that he became enamoured with sushi shoes. Having a close sneakerhead friend and a girlfriend who works in fashion also helped inspire him to go full force with “shoeshi” as he calls it.
“My first intention was to create something new to promote my restaurant’s activity by posting my creations on Instagram,” says Hu. His plan wasn’t always to work in food. His parents opened a sushi bar about 10 years ago and asked him to manage it at the age of 18.
“I started liking what I was doing, so I continued to create and gained a lot of attention from my followers, who motivate me every day to get better.”The popularity of his edible artwork has now led to over 30,000 followers on Instagram, plus the attention of some famous fans. Riccardo Tisci regrammed the Nike portrait Hu created of him earlier this month. “Riccardo had just come out with his new collaboration with Nike, and his photos were going crazy on Instagram,” Hu explains. “As soon as I saw it, I immediately thought I had to do something for him.”
His penchant for rappers, such as Lil Uzi Vert and Eminem, has attracted fans from the music industry too. “The coolest thing that happened to me so far was to receive an email from the band Fall Out Boy, where Pete asked me to re-create their onigiri portraits. He even said he was a fan of my art!” he says.“I make ‘shoeshis’ only by the commission since it takes me a long time to re-create a piece,” he notes.“When my creations went viral, a lot of people from different parts of the world came to my restaurant to try them. I then started to call them ‘shoeshi eaters.’ ” Among his most popular and realistic looking sushi shoes?
Nori and tuna Gucci loafers, a flowery pair of Dolce & Gabbana Mary Jane heels, ankle-strap Jimmy Choos made of salmon, Fendi boots rendered in nori, and the quintessential Stan Smiths, Converse, and Nike Air Jordan 1. “Inevitably, influenced by the craze of this last year, I started to reproduce some of the most iconic or trendiest sneakers that social media is full of.”
Hu’s work definitely has a hint of streetwear fashion in it. For every Gucci loafer and sweater, there’s as much Supreme, Kappa, and Nike. “I would love to collaborate with Supreme, which I think it is one of the most avant-garde streetwear brands at the moment, and why not, even with Gucci,” says Hu.
“Gucci’s latest change of creative direction has attracted my attention. At first, I thought that a brand like Gucci was destined only to a certain type of people, but during the last few years, I can tell it is a lot closer to everyone’s taste, so much so that many pieces of the brand have become integrated into streetwear clothing.
”As for Hu’s own creations, his favourite medium is salmon. “I think it has a really interesting texture and its colour pops and attracts everyone’s attention.” His pieces, which are quite laborious, are really a form of performance art. He has even given a live demonstration of “shoeshi” making at Milan’s footwear trade show MICAM earlier this fall.“Every piece of art I create has its own difficulty, especially when I need to create a particular detail,” Hu explains. “It could be the shape of the face, the eyebrows, which give an expression to every character, a beard, an earring, a tattoo or a specific outfit. As for the sneakers, I think the most difficult part is to re-create the logo and the letters.”It makes sense then that Instagram is perhaps the best and most modern medium for his fleeting artwork. “Once I create it and take a picture of a piece, unfortunately, I have to eat it,” he explains. “Or give it to family and friends.”
