Source: Randy Shropshire / Getty
Salehe Bembury has another collaboration on the horizon to keep you laced.
Bembury was recently profiled by Fast Company about his journey as a designer. He began as a designer for some of your favorites like Crocs Pollex and New Balance but now he’s ready to expand his repertoire and lend his talents to outdoor gear, home goods, and more high fashion pieces. More specifically, when it comes to keeping warm during the chilly months, Bembury’s connecting with Moncler to make sure you stay stylish during the winter.
However, the New York Native will always recognize that his roots will always be in footwear.
“I think I’m always gonna introduce myself as a footwear designer, no matter what I make,” Bembury told Fast Company. “Yeah, there’s something nice about that.”
Elsewhere in the article, Bembury speaks on how growing up in NYC’s Tribeca neighborhood with a father who was a photographer and a mother that encouraged him to be creatively led to him using sneakers as an outlet. After graduating college, he’d have stints at Payless, Cole Haan –where he created the LunarGrand silhouette– before he took his talents to Yeezy for a few years. Then he’d move on to Versace, where he’d make the 2018 hit Chain Reaction sneakers.
Since then, he’s worked with New Balance and Crocs, and the only glaring omission is Nike. But that’s not a mistake; it was his choice not to work with Nike, even after an offer was extended. It began when he was invited to the infamous Innovation Kitchen. Despite being so excited at the invite that he framed the visitor’s pass, he ultimately passed on working with the sportswear company.
“I framed it in the most obnoxious, ornate gold frame. When I sent it in to get framed, that represented the day that I accomplished the thing I most wanted in my entire life. But then, seven weeks later, when I got it back? It represented the day that I accomplished the thing I’ve wanted my entire life that I didn’t take—which almost made [the pass] that much more powerful,” Bembury remembers before ultimately turning down the offer. “If anyone ever told me that Nike would offer me attractive keys at 36 years of age and I would tell them no, I would put all my money on the fact that I would say yes. It just shows you that growth is real, and you can gain perspective.”
Designer Salehe Bembury Reveals Why He Turned Down A Job With Nike was originally published on cassiuslife.com
