Salehe Bembury

Salehe Bembury is an American designer. Currently operating his own brand Spunge, the New York City-native has become widely known for his footwear collaborations with New Balance and Crocs, among others.

Born in 1986, the Tribeca-raised creative graduated from Syracuse University with a degree in industrial design. After college, Bembury landed a footwear design role at Payless Shoe Source, an experience the now Los Angeles-based multi-hyphenate described as “a great place to get my feet wet” to W Magazine in October 2016. Between 2011 and 2020, Salehe Bembury had stints at Cole Haan – having a hand in creating the divisive, but industry-changing LunarGrand – and Greats, a Jon Buscemi company, but one of the footwear designer's biggest breaks was joining adidas Yeezy in the autumn of 2015. While at Kanye West's label, the Syracuse University alum helped execute men's footwear for Season 3 and Season 4 (the former was famously showcased at Madison Square Garden on February 11th, 2016).

On a whim on a random day in 2017, Bembury reached out to Versace's design director via LinkedIn with a pitch: What if the Italian fashion house got into sneakers? Donatella Versace hired him as Head Designer of Sneakers upon their first meeting in Milan with the American creative going on to create the label's Chain Reaction silhouette. Throughout the year, Salehe Bembury also worked with Kerby Jean-Raymond on Pyer Moss. Both Black designers have been vocal about the lack of representation within the footwear industry, with the 30-something-year-old LA resident also telling W Magazine that the small peer pool may have played an unconscious role in bringing both Black men together.

Salehe Bembury

Salehe Bembury and Crocs Roll Out The All-New Saru Clog

Among the unexpected designer/brand partnerships that have blossomed this decade, Salehe Bembury and his work with Crocs may be top of the list. That’s on...

By Matt Varga March 4, 2024
1828

After Conquering Clogs, Salehe Bembury Reveals The Crocs Juniper Sneaker

Updated January 14th, 2024: Salehe Bembury reveals new images of the Crocs Juniper sneaker. How Crocs rose to be where it’s at today is nothing...

By Sneaker News January 5, 2024
32218

Salehe Bembury Pairs “Parsnip” With His Crocs Pollex Slide

Salehe Bembury has brought about a definitively bold cohort of colors throughout his many a collaboration with Crocs. Continuing to recontextualize the ecosystem’s breadth of...

By Jared Ebanks November 6, 2023
1115

Salehe Bembury’s “Yolk” Crocs Pollex Clog Sees Wider Release On November 17th

Salehe Bembury‘s Crocs initiative has gone from one-off project to a design platform titled the Pollex Pod. Although the partnership continues to explore designs and...

By Jovani Hernandez November 6, 2023
2423

A Salehe Bembury x Crocs Pollex Shoe Is On The Way

According to Salehe Bembury, the Crocs Pollex Shoe is set to debut as part of his Spring/Summer 2024 efforts. The most recent look at the...

By Jovani Hernandez September 29, 2023
17058

Salehe Bembury Teases Another New Balance 1906R Collaboration

Salehe Bembury and New Balance are at it again. The 30-something-year-old American designer has been focusing on the Crocs Pollex Pod Collection in recent months,...

By Jovani Hernandez September 25, 2023
4046

The Salehe Bembury x Crocs Pollex Slide “Huckle” Releases Tomorrow

The weather may be cooling down, but Salehe Bembury and Crocs are not quite ready to say goodbye to Summer. Only mere moments ahead of...

By Michael Le September 20, 2023
3126

Salehe Bembury Preps The Crocs Pollex Clog “Como” For August 17th

Salehe Bembury continues to churn out compelling products with Crocs, which established the Pollex Pod platform for the American designer. Before summer ends, both partners...

By Jovani Hernandez August 15, 2023
8127

The Salehe Bembury x Crocs Pollex Clog Presents Three New Kids-Exclusive Styles

Salehe Bembury and Crocs — whose relationship is much deeper than that of mere collaborators — first teamed up back in 2021, ushering in the...

By Michael Le August 3, 2023
4221