GREATEST: Salehe Bembury
Versace's Senior Director of Sneakers & Men's Footwear shares his journey that ultimately led him to designing the most talked about luxury sneaker: the Chain Reaction.
Growing up in the golden age of sneaker culture in New York City, Salehe Bembury first saw the limited editions and collaborations on the shelves of spots that have since passed into legend. Sneakers were just being catapulted into the general consciousness as something more than performance footwear—collectable, surely, and maybe even art. As has happened in music and now fashion, the subculture associated with hip-hop has become the culture, with nearly all high fashion brands assuming some aspect of the aesthetic. Versace being one of many, but possibly the shrewdest, by hiring Bembury and giving him freedom to create what has become one of the most talked about sneakers in the luxury space: the Chain Reaction.
Tell me about growing up in New York City.
I grew up in Tribeca, New York. I’d loved sneakers since I was a kid. I don’t come from a traditional fashion background, but I got my passion and perspective growing up in downtown New York and having artist parents who had a bunch of artist friends. My parents did a good job of showing me all ends of the spectrum in regards to race, class and walks of life. That diverse upbringing influenced the person I am now.
What was the first pair of sneakers you remember seeing that made you go, “Oh shit”?
There were stages. I remember seeing the Jordan 3 when I was a little kid and being like, “Whoa.” I remember seeing this all blue And1 shoe that had a stripe up the front and no laces. It was very similar to what the Yeezy is now. It had a different outsole, a knit upper and this tape up the front. Then there was this pair of Merrells that had dots on the outsole and no laces.
I remember they had the clog version of that, too, which is absurd.
Those were insane. There were so many hidden gems in downtown New York stores back in the day. There used to be a sneaker circuit: You go to Nom De Guerre, then Recon, then Classic Kicks, then Alife. I remember my boy was like, “Yo, you got to look for the Swatch store on Broadway, you got to go down this stairwell that looks like you’re trespassing and feels like the subway, then you go through this giant steel door and there’s this dope store.” There was a tribe mentality, a feeling of discovery. Now you just click a few buttons [online], and the sneaker’s yours. When you had to travel, search and even be scared of the people you encountered—that made the whole experience magical.
I was at all those stores and fortunate enough to know a lot of the guys who founded them—and even I had trouble finding them. It was a different time.
When I am creating a sneaker, I try to go back and think about those moments, that feeling that it was more than the product—it was the experience. I remember certain sneakers being unveiled and having nothing to say but, “Holy shit.” When you can create an individual story that no one else can recreate, it’s definitely a rare moment in footwear.
How do you feel about the idea of a re-release versus a new design? For context, the sneaker phenomenon was based on reissues of Jordans or Dunks or whatever. That was the beginning of the late 90s, early 2000s. Now we’ve entered this new phase.
I guess a balance has to be maintained. The consumer side of me is like, “I’m tired of seeing another color of the [Air] Jordan 3. I’d rather see something completely new.” But if the Jordan 3 is one of the most popular Jordans of all time, how can the brand not capitalize on that opportunity? But again, there’s definitely something to be said for that moment when a company unveils a shoe and it’s like nothing you’ve ever seen.
Let’s backtrack. Where’d you go to college?
Syracuse [University]. I didn’t go for fashion though; I majored in industrial design.
Cool. You came back to New York City after, and then what happened?
I was just eager to get my foot in the door. My first design job was for Payless ShoeSource, which I was not excited about. In retrospect, it was extremely educational because Payless makes every kind of shoe. I was working on men’s, women’s, kid’s and formal. It was a really beneficial opportunity. Then I worked with Fortune Footwear, which was equally unexciting. But they work with brands like Birkenstock and Steve Madden, so I was getting educated, which is important for any young designer.
I always tell young people trying to get into this business to work for as many people as they can because working for somebody else’s point of view is how you learn what your own is.
It’s weird, all these Will Smith motivational videos I’ve seen are true. I don’t want to old-guy talk about the younger generation, but they seem to want [success] immediately. Where I am in my career now is a result of the jobs I hated and the jobs I loved, the successes and failures. It’s definitely about the journey.
Where I am in my career now is a result of the jobs I hated and the jobs I loved, the successes and failures. It’s definitely about the journey.
That’s how you grow. After Fortune Footwear, what happened?
During that time, Damon Dash opens up DD172, this Andy Warhol-type space. There were art exhibits, a basement that held only 100 people, super intimate performances by Curren$y, Wiz Khalifa, Mos Def. It was this creative space of beautiful young people coming straight out of college and “making.” They were doing clothes, shoes, stuff with adidas. It was really stimulating to see. I started neglecting my Fortune Footwear work and going over there. One day I was feeling super ambitious. I bought a TV dinner table from the corner store, put it in the design office and told them, “I work here now.” I think they respected that I took initiative because they hired me. That was where I got off the track of footwear for a bit and started doing graphic design.
So fast forward to Cole Haan. You were part of the team that did the [Lunargrands], right?
Yeah, I was on the innovation team, which was appropriate for me because I went to school for industrial design, so I’m really about problem solving with design. I wasn’t that familiar with traditional dress shoes, but I’m a strong believer in being a sponge and a chameleon, so I submerged myself in that world. I was working under Jeff Henderson, this Nike OG who became a mentor of mine. He designed the Air Max 2009. During the three years I was there, [Cole Haan] was Nike-owned, so we had Nike as a resource and access to that technology. We really changed the face of Cole Haan, but also the perception of where dress footwear can be taken.
That was a significant moment for sure. So how did you come to join Yeezy?
I mentioned Jeff Henderson. We’d get lunch every few months and catch up, and at one of those lunches he told me he was helping with the Yeezy project. That’s where the conversation ended, but a few weeks later, he told me my work had been seen and there was interest. I sent them over some additional work, they liked it and in the fall of that year I moved to California.
How was the transition from New York to Los Angeles?
It’s affected me physically, psychologically. As humans, we should be around blue and green. My proximity to nature and the beach is amazing. I don’t miss New York one bit. I’ll always love it, I’ll always be a New Yorker, but I’m so happy in this new environment. Even from a professional standpoint, I’ve been able to flourish out here.
I had similar feelings, though I miss New York more than you do, I think. So we do Yeezy Season Three, then Yeezy Season Four. Then you guys decide to part ways. Tell me how the Versace job came about.
I reached out to a 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 fashion houses for sneakers. However, I would argue that in the last five years [because of the education through fashion collaborations, etc.], this consumer is now looking to high fashion for sneakers. I explained that because of Versace’s storied legacy and amazing heritage, they were missing out on this opportunity. I didn’t think I’d hear back, but days later I got an email from “The Office of Donatella Versace.” Apparently my ideas were received well, and they asked me to travel to Milan for more conversation. At the time, it seemed like they just wanted to get some new perspective on sneakers, so I was going to go out there with only a couple pages of trends. But the week before that trip I had some really influential conversations. One person told me not to assume they knew I could design, to bring some sample designs. Someone else said I should do market research to see what’s selling. Someone else made it more clear to me that there aren’t too many people who look like me in the high fashion space, that it’s bigger than me and that I could pave the way. What was going to be a two-page presentation turned into 40 pages. I presented to Donatella, and I was hired on the spot.
What was going to be a two-page presentation turned into forty-pages. I presented to Donatella, and I was hired on the spot.
Salehe Bembury
I love that story, man. They needed the hook, and you provided that with the Chain Reaction. I want to talk more about the design idea behind the Chain Reaction.
Since they created a position for me, I felt like I was starting from scratch. I wanted to approach it with this mentality: You have your low hanging fruit, your middle ground, the more interesting stuff and then a level above is your peacock. When a peacock spreads its feathers, everyone looks. The Chain Reaction was that. I wanted to recreate the “Holy shit, what is that?” feeling I felt when I was a consumer. [Versace] has such rich heritage, so we wanted to inject as much of its DNA into the sneakers as possible. I want people to look at these shoes and know immediately that they’re Versace.
How did the launch deal with GOAT come about?
GOAT specializes in stats and consumer insights. We thought that would be beneficial to this sneaker initiative. When you can learn about your consumer in an innovative way, that’s an opportunity. That was the main motivation for working with GOAT. They have a huge sneaker consumer base, and we’re looking to grow in this market.
Let’s talk for a second about this idea of the luxury sneaker. There’s a different mentality between a luxury sneaker and a limited edition sneaker, and somehow you’ve been able to meld those.
I would always see people wearing ugly sneakers because they were from whatever fashion house. It didn’t matter what they looked like; it was about the brand. I thought, What if the shoe is dope and it’s from an aspirational brand? That felt like the opportunity.
Knowing the hype of the sneaker market and the proliferation of limited edition, designer collaborations, designer specific and luxury—does it ever feel like it’s too hot?
There’s a level of oversaturation, and yes, there’s a level of bullshit, but it’s exciting nonetheless. The consumer is more open than ever to new ideas and new silhouettes. Sneaker culture is so popular now that you have all these newcomers getting involved. It’s not hard to be educated these days because it’s all on whatever website is pushing the story. When I was coming up, there was a level of discovery. It was about finding things out from your friends and looking for them. It was exciting. I almost got mugged a few times looking for sneaker stores, and strangely that was cool. The same level of discovery just does not exist now. I remember I was camped out in the Supreme line, way back when, and this guy skateboards past like, “Hey, I’m opening up this new shop on 3rd and Bowery, Dave’s Quality Meat.” It was a really exciting time because everyone had their own aesthetic and vibe.
How do we get that back?
It’s about that “Oh shit” moment. I recently sat down with [the artist] Daniel Arsham. We were saying that the retail space is really dead right now, but KITH continues to see [brick-and-mortar] growth. I asked him why that was, and he explained that it’s because they created an experience. Sometimes people aren’t even going there to buy anything, they just want to see it. KITH has harnessed that emotional moment. When you see shoes that look like they’re going 100 feet into the ground, that’s the “Holy shit.” And when you go upstairs, have some ice cream and see people who look cool to you, that’s the experience. That’s what I’m trying to accomplish with the peacock product. The success of the peacock products will create signature details, a story and ultimately a family.
I would like to thank Donatella Versace, Kanye West and Jeff Henderson for the opportunities they have given me.
Photography by Julian Berman and Interview by Josh Peskowitz