Velum, Unveiled: Salehe Bembury and PUMA Hit Paris

ascent has never followed the typical route. From working behind the scenes at luxury houses to redefining modern footwear in his own language, he’s carved out a career marked by instinct, risk and vision. The launch of the with feels like a full-circle moment – his design principles, references and storytelling now skyrocketing through a product that’s entirely his.

The Velum doesn’t just carry his signature textures and sculptural lines, it reflects everything he’s learned over the past 15 years. From the corporate grind to creative freedom, from big-brand colabs to building a world of his own, this release shows the mastermind at a new peak: more confident, more refined and more in control than ever.

Speaking with Sneaker Freaker during Paris Fashion Week’s SS26 season, Bembury opened up about the journey behind the PUMA Velum, the lessons that shaped it and what’s next as he continues to blur the line between nature and innovation.

Hey Salahe! So, tell us: how do you approach storytelling when working with brand partners, especially those with real heritage like PUMA?
Yeah, so there are a lot of different brands that potentially haven't been around that long who often fake the funk of heritage storytelling, and try to almost create moments that never happened. But having the opportunity to work with the decades-long design heritage of PUMA and all of those details – it's an honour. But also, it's an opportunity to take moments of the past, take products of the past, and put them through a modern aesthetic.

The Velum is a great shoe and it's been received well within our community. How involved were you with the design of this shoe?
The design I worked on exists on a spectrum, from simply colouring up and skinning an existing model to creating something entirely from scratch. This particular project falls somewhere in between. The foundation is the Deviate 3.

And going back to that idea of balance, I had to figure out how to inject my own design language while still honouring the signature details of both PUMA and the Deviate franchise. The goal was for the average consumer to look at the shoe and feel that connection to PUMA, to the Deviate lineage, and to my own design DNA.

And how did you figure that out?
Research and experience, I guess. Yeah.

What's next for you, working with PUMA?
I was just speaking about this as well. I see this as a long-term partnership, these days. Collaborations are kind of here today, gone tomorrow, and the opportunity here is multi-year. So it's really just about identifying the opportunities we have in the market, building on what we've already established within the design details and the conversations that we've created, and staying consistent.

And for the SF fam – why should they fuck with the shoe?
Why should they fuck with the shoe? I don't know, actually. I think that's the problem in sneakers right now, is that people just kind of run to what's cool and there's not as much individual taste. So I would actually say they should only fuck with the shoe if they like it.

I'm glad you answered in that way.
Yeah.

Let's talk about the installation. We’re in Paris – really exciting, and the work upstairs is mind-blowing. What did you want to see come through in the installation?
What did we discuss? I mean, I think in this modern age, where everyone has their hand on their phone, I thought to myself: 'What will make someone want to capture this and take home that moment with them?' Going back to the conversation of storytelling, I also wanted it to feel immersive, like someone was entering my world. I've always loved when I’ve stepped into retail or event spaces and I feel like I’m entering a world that's almost 360.

And then I'm continuing to familiarise, introduce and continue to story-tell my brand language and design language with all of these new audiences and in a new place.

Thank you so much. Is there anything that you want to add?
I'm releasing a book in October!

Well, that we know – and you've got some of our images.
Yes!

I’m excited to see that.
Yes, it's going to be great.

We love publishing. So that’s coming out in October.
October 13th, I think.

Nice plug! Tell us about the book.

Honestly, it's a 380-page book, but the editing process was very difficult because it’s only 380 pages, and with how many different brands are represented, there was an extreme edit that had to take place. It was very sad. It’s hard to remember, even though I flipped through the book a hundred times and had to edit it so many different times. Maybe I’ll just say 'Stay tuned', but it’s basically a 15-year retrospective of my work.

You see the growth within me physically and within my work, and I hope it gets better. It’s been quite the journey over the last 15 years, from Yeezy to Versace, and start-ups. The purpose of the book is: I’d like it to be a design bible for young creators who are curious about how to take that journey of professionalism in the corporate space, or even within their own creativity. How do they explore?

So that’s the goal, and I’m very excited to release it.