Salehe Bembury is a creative by trade. He is most notably making his mark in the world of footwear design. Since 2009, he has applied his Industrial Design degree and interdisciplinary design skills to a diverse array of footwear brands. Salehe got his start at Payless Shoe Source.

 

"At the time, [Payless] wasn’t something to write home about,” he said. “But looking back, Payless designs every kind of shoe, so from an education standpoint, it was a great place to get my feet wet.”

                                                                                                   

- W Magazine

 

His career then took him to the Nike-owned brand Cole Haan. There, he was part of the team that created the Lunar Grand, a shoe acclaimed for its effortless combination of style and function. The juxtaposition of craft, technology, and problem solving made Salehe an even more versatile designer. His quickly budding reputation then led him to Jon Buscemi's company Greats. As the Footwear Design Director, Salehe was the creative force behind Greats' silhouettes, collaborations, and brand positioning. 

 

In the Fall of 2015, Kanye West caught wind of Salehe’s talents and hired him at Yeezy to handle Men's Footwear. Some of Salehe’s most memorable designs come from his work on the Season 3 and Season 4 collections. In 2017, he was hired by Donatella Versace as the Head Designer of Sneakers for Versace and Versus Versace.

 

"Bembury's lifelong obsession with design excellence, his unwavering curiosity, and resume that features work for Yeezy and Greats, put him squarely in the center of the sneaker zeitgeist. At 31, he's a footwear designer who defines this moment"

                                                                                                   

- "Sneakers" The Book