Designer Salehe Bembury Launches Independent Sneaker Brand

Salehe Bembury has officially entered his mogul era. After years of designing for some of the biggest names in fashion and footwear, the acclaimed designer is launching his own independent sneaker company, and doing it completely on his own terms, AfroTech reports.

The Syracuse University grad, who holds a degree in industrial design, has spent over 15 years shaping sneaker culture from the inside. He started in 2009 as a footwear designer for Payless Shoesource and quickly climbed the ranks, working as an innovation designer for Cole Haan, men’s footwear designer for Yeezy, and senior director of sneakers and men’s footwear for Versace. Along the way, he became one of the most recognizable creative forces in modern streetwear.

His standout collaborations, from his award-winning Crocs designs to his recent partnership with New Balance,  have cemented Bembury’s place as one of the most innovative minds in fashion. But after fielding offers from major brands, including a “multipronged partnership” with Nike that would have involved working with LeBron James, Bembury made a bold move: he turned it down.

“It’s always an honor to work with brands, but I don’t necessarily get to bring to fruition exactly what I’d like,” Bembury previously told reporters.

That desire for creative freedom led to the birth of SPUNGE, Bembury’s own sneaker brand. His debut design, the “Osmosis,” launched in four colorways with the help of LA-based company Violet St. For Bembury, SPUNGE represents more than just sneakers, it’s a statement of independence, vision, and legacy.

“For 15 years, I’ve worked across every corner of the footwear industry; learning, observing, absorbing. Each chapter taught me something different, how shoes are made, how brands are built, and how culture moves,” he wrote in an Instagram post. “SPUNGE is the result of it all. Everything I’ve taken in, finally expressed in my own language. This brand exists to create the kind of freedom I was always searching for. A space to explore, experiment, and evolve. A shoe to do stuff in.”

Luke Wood, CEO of Violet St and former executive at Beats Electronics and Apple, sees this as Bembury’s defining moment. “We fell in love with Salehe very early on. I think of it a little bit like: Tom Ford was at Gucci, but then he’s Tom Ford. Or Frank Ocean was in Odd Future, but then he’s Frank Ocean. We really want this to be that moment for Salehe Bembury.”

From Payless to Versace, and now to his own brand, Bembury’s story is proof that sometimes the biggest flex is betting on yourself, and winning.

Cover photo: Designer Salehe Bembury Launches Independent Sneaker Brand/Photo credit: Byron Spencer/ 032c/Salehe Bembury/Instagram