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.

With Bembury’s Pollex Clog one of the biggest breakout hits this decade and now a ubiquitous streetwear item, he and Crocs are turning their attention to bigger and better things. The Crocs Saru Clog was the first step, a half-moc, half-croc design that still sports the fingerprint outsole design. More notably, the Crocs Juniper debuted at the end of May. It added a true sneaker style to the Crocs catalog while maintaining Bembury’s quirky design language. The Juniper debuted in a coral colorway, but additional versions teased in the lead-up hint towards more releases down the line. As a final addition to his growing footwear arsenal, Bembury announced a new partnership with PUMA in July 2024, joining their Hoops division in a leading creative role that’ll include recruitment of the brand’s next signature athlete.

Below you can find the latest on Salehe Bembury shoes, including his latest work with the Colorado clog company.

Salehe Bembury

Salehe Bembury’s Pollex Clog Goes “Manta” & Glow-In-The-Dark “Borealis”

The Pollex Clog has gone from surprise silhouette to a truly bankable asset for Salehe Bembury and the Colorado company both. Even as the NYC...

By Matt Varga October 7, 2024
2337

Salehe Bembury Reveals Yet Another Crocs Juniper Sneaker

Salehe Bembury is one of the busiest men in the sneaker game right now. Despite taking on an important role at PUMA Basketball, the NYC...

By Andrew Rizzo September 25, 2024
1191

Raffle Live: Jonas Wood x Crocs Pollex Clog

Updated August 22nd, 2024: The EQL raffle for the Jonas Wood x Crocs Pollex Clog is now open. Enter via the links below. Back in...

By Sneaker News August 16, 2024
6655

Salehe Bembury Previews A Second Colorway Of His Crocs Cypress Duck Boot

Updated September 3rd, 2024: Salehe Bembury took to Instagram over Labor Day Weekend to showcase another edition of his upcoming Crocs Cypress silhouette. Maintaining a...

By Matt Varga August 12, 2024
4976

Salehe Bembury Teases A Purple New Balance 991v2 Collaboration

Salehe Bembury simply refuses to slow down. Amid a deluge of images from the giveaway for the unreleased Salehe Bembury New Balance 530, he took...

By Matt Varga August 8, 2024
6452

Salehe Bembury Will Design The Next Puma Hoops Signature Shoe

On top of his work with New Balance and the enduring impact of his Pollex Clog & Crocs Juniper series, Salehe Bembury is now adding...

By Matt Varga July 29, 2024
1096

Salehe Bembury’s Crocs Juniper “Tahini” Releases Again On September 12th

Updated September 6th, 2024: The Salehe Bembury Crocs Juniper “Tahini” has been loaded onto Crocs.com for a September 12th release. As of writing, further release...

By Matt Varga July 25, 2024
3885

Salehe Bembury’s Crocs Pollex Clog Surfaces In “Ube” Purple

As Salehe Bembury’s partnership with Crocs continues to produce new models like the Juniper Sneaker and Saru Clog, the Pollex Clog is still at the...

By Andrew Rizzo July 5, 2024
4882

First Look At The Salehe Bembury x New Balance 530

Following the earlier leaks, Salehe Bembury has officially revealed a first look at his upcoming New Balance 530 collaboration. Though his work on the Crocs...

By Matt Varga June 12, 2024
17461