Saleh Bembury is an American footwear designer and the vice president of sneakers and men’s footwear collections at Versace, an Italian luxury fashion company. He is the Creative Director at SpongeBob and is mostly known for his cool streetwear style. He is the former footwear designer of Adidas Yeezy, a fashion collaboration between American rappers, designers, and the German sportswear company Adidas and the American men’s and women’s shoe brand Cole Haan.
Where I am now in my career is a result of the successes and failures of jobs I hated and jobs I loved. It’s definitely about the journey.” – Salehe Bembury
Contents
Wiki/Biography
Saleh Bembury was born on Friday, October 3, 1986 (age 37 years; as of 2023) in Tribeca, New York. His zodiac sign is Libra. He completed his primary education at the Calhoun School in Manhattan. He ran a six-week pre-college industrial design program at the Rhode Island School of Design in the United States. He then did an eight-week pre-college industrial design program at Carnegie Mellon University, Pennsylvania. In 2005, he completed a bachelor’s degree in Industrial Design from Syracuse University, Syracuse, New York. , After his graduation, he moved back to New York.
Physical Appearance
Height (approx): 6′ 3″
Weight (Approx): 60 kg
Hair Color: Black
Eye colour: brown
Family
parents and siblings
His father was a photographer while his mother was a teacher. In an interview, he talked about how his parents showed him all types of art. He said,
I don’t come from a traditional fashion background, but I got my passion and perspective from growing up in New York City and having artist parents who had many artist friends. My parents did a good job of exposing me to all aspects of race, class, and walks of life. That diverse upbringing influenced the person I am now.”
wife and children
Salehe Bembury is unmarried.
livelihood
He has been interested in sneakers since childhood. In an interview, he once mentioned his passion for footwear designing and said,
I have loved sneakers since childhood. I grew up obsessed with sneakers, sneaker culture, and most importantly, sneaker designers. I remember seeing the Jordan 3 when I was a little kid and I was like, wow. I remember seeing this all blue And1 shoe that had a stripe down the front and no laces.”
Payless ShoeSource
In August 2009, Salehe Bembury joined Payless ShoeSource, an international discount footwear chain, as a footwear designer and worked there for three months. In an interview he shared his experience of working at Payless ShoeSource and said,
My first design job was for Payless ShoeSource, which I wasn’t excited about. Looking back, it was extremely educational because Payless makes all kinds of shoes. I was working on men, women, kids and formal. This was a truly rewarding opportunity. ,
Fortune Footwear
In October 2009, he joined Fortune Footwear in the Greater New York City Area as a footwear designer. He revealed in an interview that he was not excited to work at the company but the experience gave him a lot of knowledge. He said,
Then I worked with Fortune Footwear, which was equally uninspiring. But they work with brands like Birkenstock and Steve Madden, so I was getting educated, which is important for any young designer.
Damon Dash – DD172
In June 2010, he joined Damon Dash as a senior footwear designer and served for 6 months.
cole hahn
In March 2011, he was hired by Nike-owned Cole Haan Company to join their “innovation” team. There, he created the Lunargrand silhouette, a major turning point in the history of men’s shoes, taking traditional men’s shoes and adding a colorful and modern sole. He was working under engineer-turned-shoe designer Jeff Henderson, who designed the Air Max 2009 and worked for Nike for 15 years. He resigned from his post in September 2013.
grates
After working at Cole Haan for nearly three years, in August 2014, Bembury got in on the ground floor of Greats, a small start-up that aims to share work and fashion equally, and is led by Nick Has become a favorite of menswear icons. Wooster. His supervisor at Cole Haan worked for Kanye West and encouraged Bembury to submit his portfolio. He resigned from his post in September 2015.
Yeezy
Jeff Henderson, who was working on a project with YEEZY in 2015, shared Bembury’s portfolio with the company. After a few months in October 2015, the company finally hired him as a men’s footwear designer and he moved to California where he worked with Kanye West and collaborated with Kerby Jean-Raymond, a lead designer for Pyer Moss. . He designed luxury collections of streetwear-style sneakers in YEEZY’s third and fourth season projects. In an interview, he talked about one of his famous collections which had a corporate theme, where he dipped shoes in flexible silicone to metaphorically show that models were buried under concrete in the corporate world. He said,
It was a metaphor for the things that bother us in life or hold us back, whether it’s social or financial.”
Corporate theme sneakers launched by Salehe Bembury
He served there for a year and resigned from his job in September 2016.
versace
In September 2017, Bembury obtained his position as head designer of sneakers at Versace by direct messaging his prospective supervisor through LinkedIn. In January 2020, Bembry became vice president of sneakers and men’s shoes at Versace. He also designs independently. Senior Director of Sneakers and Men’s Footwear. In an interview, he talked about how he arrived at Versace and said,
I reached out to the Versace Design Director and essentially proposed an opportunity. I explained that the sneaker industry is a billion dollar business. “Traditionally, that consumer would never look to a fashion house for sneakers.”
I didn’t think I’d get a reply, but a few days later I got an email from Donatella Versace’s office. My ideas were well received and they asked me to travel to Milan for more talks. What was supposed to be a two-page presentation turned into 40 pages. I presented to Donatella and was hired on the spot.
Salehe Bembury with Donatella Versace, Vice President and Artistic Director of Versace
2018 Versace series collection designed by Saleh Bembury
sponge
In December 2020, he launched his own brand and became the Creative Director at Sponge, the leading online destination for men’s contemporary fashion and streetwear in Los Angeles.
crocs
In November 2023, Crocs named Salehe Bembury the creative director of the Crocs x Polex Pod. Additionally, they have collaborated with New Balance, one of the world’s leading sports shoes and apparel manufacturers.
Saleh Bembury is promoting his new Crocs design
Controversy
Salehe Bembury allegedly searched while walking down the street
On October 2, 2020, Salehe Bembury was stopped by Beverly Hills Police while crossing the street using the GPS on his phone. The officer asked Salehe Bembury to show his ID and then began searching him. Salehe was uncomfortable and out of fear gave permission for the search. The officer asked Salehe Bembury if he was carrying any weapons. On which Salehe Bembury refused to take anything. The officer later pats down Bembury as his arms are behind his back. He filmed this conversation on his mobile, where he said,
So I’m in Beverly Hills right now and I’m being searched a lot to shop at the store I work at and I’m the only black person. The unfortunate thing is that the shoes in the bag were designed by me and I am the one being searched for them. I’m very nervous and it seems a bit much.”
Later, he posted the video on his Instagram account and captioned it saying,
I am fine, my soul is not well.”
On October 2, 2020, Donatella Versace, an Italian fashion designer, showed support for Saleh Bembry through her Instagram post, saying that she was shocked by the incident in Beverly Hills.
I am shocked that this happened to Saleh Bembury today, he has been a consultant at Versace for a long time and the behavior he experienced is completely unacceptable. “He was stopped on the street simply because of the color of his skin.”
award
On 8 December 2020, Salehe Bembury was honored as Designer of the Year at the first virtual FN Achievement Awards 2020.
tattoo
- He has tattoos on the left side of his neck and on both arms.
Saleh Bembury’s arm tattoos
Saleh Bembury tattoo design on left side of neck
- He has a sneaker tattooed on his right hand.
Saleh Bembry has a sneaker tattoo on his right arm
- He has a tattoo of a pigeon on the right side of his neck.
Saleh Bembury’s tattoo of a dove on the right side of his neck
- He has a tattoo of Jean-Michel Basquiat on his right foot.
Saleh Bembury has a tattoo of Jean-Michel Basquiat’s face on his right foot
Facts/General Knowledge
- In an interview, when asked why he camped out overnight for a pair of sneakers, Bembry said he was addicted to sneakers, like other people are addicted to drugs. He said
People buy medicines for different reasons. Some people buy them because they make money from it, some people buy drugs because of how it makes them feel, and some people buy them because of how it looks. I think it’s exactly the same thing with sneakers. There are some shoes which make you feel like a superhero when you tie their laces. There’s something truly magical about it.”
- When asked in an interview what he thought about changes in racial equality, he said
This period of time has made me realize that I have a little more responsibility to bring Black people along with me. This was something I already realized, but I think I probably need to open up a few more seats on the bus. Also, it’s strange because this has suddenly become an issue in the last three months. This has been the experience of my life; I have been aware of these things for a long time. Initially it was something that hurt, but now I am numb. Now suddenly, there is a sense of urgency, but I have felt this urgency for some time. And I find it a little strange, and maybe even a little disingenuous, when I see some brands – and I’m not talking about any specific brand – wanting to do things and it’s like, ‘You have to tell someone to move forward. Will you have to see him being murdered? It could be easily communicated through simple conversation. “Ultimately it is disappointing.”
- On February 11, 2021, to celebrate the 75th anniversary of the National Basketball Association, Canada Goose launched a limited edition of sneakers in collaboration with designer Salehe Bembury as part of a multi-year partnership with the NBA.
- On September 9, 2023, Los Angeles-based painter Kohshin Finley presented his portrait for his first European solo exhibition at the Barbati Gallery in Venice, Italy.
Kohshin Finley with illustrations by Salehe Bembury
- Salehe Bemburi is very fond of hiking and fishing.
Salehe Bembury fishing in Sundance Utah
Salehe Bembury hiking in Los Angeles
Categories: Biography
Source: vcmp.edu.vn