New Rory & MAL - Checking In With Salehe Bembury

Episode Date: October 30, 2025

Rory & Mal check in with shoe designer Salehe Bembury to talk the death of hype, what is was like working with Tyrese Haliburton, and the inspiration behind his new book "I Make Shoes" #volume All lines provided by hardrock.betSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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if our team ends up in the quarterfinals or potentially a great run into the semifinals. Listen, Inside American Soccer with Tom Bogart and Tab Ramos on the iHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, wherever you get your podcast. The volume. All right, Rory, today we are joined by a very, very special guest. New York City legend, a legend in the fashion game,

legend in the shoe game. We are honored and privileged to have him here today. His new line is dropping. He has a new book out. And we get to talk to him. I get to ask some of my sneaker head. Yes. This is a sneaker head.

This episode is for all the sneaker heads around the world. Very special guest doing some amazing things. We are joined by Salehi Bembrey. Welcome. What's up, fam? How you doing? I'm doing good. This is a pleasure to meet me.

Yes, yes. First of all, you're busy. You're running around. Congrats on the new drop, the new sponge collection. I don't know even know where to start with I mean we wear his sneakers so fucking much Yeah pretty much all I'm at this point Yeah yeah

Today I even had like It was maybe a self-conscious thought And then I felt even weird after Because I was like I don't want to wear his sneakers When he's like is that weird But then it's fucked up like But I support this guy so much Why would watch out of your way

Today I'm not wearing it Today I'm not because he's coming to the field today I'm not wearing them I threw them shit in the back of the closet I was like I'm not wearing my salaries today But how you feeling man I feel great. I am in a very significant part of my career in a chapter turning moment. I'm releasing a book. I'm releasing a, I've released a footwear company, which is different from, I guess, what my audience has been familiar with, which has mostly been collaborations. But we saw this, we saw this happen in a event. I mean, listen, like, I didn't even see the, the collaboration thing in the, in the stars for me. You know, the, my dream was to ultimately, work for a brand and I never really saw myself as someone that was going to put his name on people across people's chest or on their shoes. So these opportunities have kind of been brought to me and

me being a New Yorker, you know, I'm still going to capitalize on them and this is where I find myself. When did you have that moment that it switched where, hey, I don't want to just design or be a head designer for somebody else? I think I just got to look at the amount of success that I've brought other brands and across a landscape, you know, like not only just simply like one kind of sneaker, I've been able to tell many different stories and within telling those different stories speak to different audiences. And through that, I have a lot of success with sales of shoes. And then that made me realize that I myself am a business. I'm not necessarily like just this artist that gets brought in to like throw some colors on, you know, the black and white,

whatever, I am actually like a business myself. And then I also became, you know, I don't want to make this about money, but I, you know, was very aware of the amount of money that I was making these brands. And I was very- I was about said, have you ever seen the real numbers? Oh, yeah, absolutely. That's a part of it. But and then the percentage of what I was able to get from that very grateful,

but it'd be nice to have the entire pie, you know. It'd be nice to. Yeah. Yeah. That's a little different. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah.

And then this entire time I've been learning. So I don't know if this is something I would have been ready for, like, like five years ago. Mm-hmm. But now I think- That's why I said what I said about it. I think it was inevitable. I think people that have been following you

and supporting your brand over the years. We kind of saw this happening. But when you say you were working at brands, you were learning, I mean, you've done some iconic shit with Versace. Thank you. Cohan, even with the Yeezy brand.

Along your journey. They made Crocs cool. Made Crocs cool. But again, you've always had a certain, aesthetic. We know a Salehi aesthetic when we see it. Like even your whole

aesthetic appearance as a brand. You know what I mean? Like you walk in the room, people know exactly who you are now. Growing up in New York, do you feel like that kind of molded you because this is a fashion capital and everything that you wear? But it's now it seems it's more easy to follow than it is to set trends

these days. How important was it for you to remain who you are and always, and anything you do, it's a Salehi thing? I think that growing up, and maybe you can relate to this, you guys can relate to this, is individualism was a high priority. So the people that were in your friend group or just in the room were respected and appreciated because of the individualism that they brought to the table. And so if someone was wearing cheetah or black and red or whatever it was, that's who they were. And these days, that doesn't really exist as much. And so because that's an error that I come from, I really lean into being myself.

I don't think anyone can be myself better than me, right? And that has high authenticity in it. I think that's something that when people identify, they're really attracted to because that also is rare in this time that we find ourselves in, you know? So, yeah, I think there's a balance that needs to be maintained of like injecting a certain amount of self into a project, but then also just considering the consumer and what they would like in being commercial because sometimes people push things a little too far and then it's not digestible.

So it's kind of about maintaining that balance of like commercial and then like that's my taste. Yeah. And I think it's interesting with designers that are born and raised in New York. Typically the nature route isn't represented in their designs outside of just the colors that you use. Like what the shoe's purpose is for a nature hike, for example. It's a functional shoes. Yeah. Which typically isn't the New York City designer stereotype.

What started more of the nature side of things growing up in the city? So I mean, yeah, born and raised in New York. work spent 29 years here, moved to LA about 10 years ago. And through that, developed a relationship with nature just through proximity. I mean, if you guys wanted to go for a hike here, that'd be your full Saturday. That'd be like going to, what was it called, Woodbury Commons. That's a full day. That's a full day. And so in LA, you know, like hikes are 15 minutes away and they're really beautiful experiences and it's physical fitness and it's meditative and it's just a nice way to start the day. And then through that, I started getting

inspired and not even like intentionally where I was like looking at trees like, give me an idea. Yeah. But it was more just like, damn, these colors are beautiful and started noticing the function of the shoes I was wearing and how they were hurting or helping my hiking experience. I made a shoe with a whistle on it because I was like, wow, like I'm out in this environment where I need tools. I might need a knife to protect myself. I might need a lighter to start a fire. or I might need a whistle to alert people that I'm injured or my friends that are like on the other side of the mountain or field or whatever.

And so it really wasn't the most intentional thing. It was just like, this is what I'm doing. This is what I'm sharing on my social media. And now it just kind of like authentically connects. I think it would have been strange if I was in Los Angeles trying to tell a New York story. Yeah. You know?

But at the end of the day, I think it has to be authentic. And that's why even like the Puma-Halliburton thing that I've been doing is authentic because I grew up pooping, you know? Yeah. I feel like you kind of had like the reverse career as far as trying to go to the quote unquote designer brand thing. Like earlier, how I was even introduced to you was through the Versace stuff. I would have never guessed at that point of those Versace designs that everything you would do after would look the way it looked. Like now I get it because through Crocs, through New Balance, through everything that you've done, I understand your aesthetic.

Versace would have been the last fucking brand I would have thought that, maybe you would have worked with, and it was the one that introduced me to your designs. Yeah, yeah. Which is kind of weird, because usually that process is switched. You'll do maybe the lesser brands and then go right to designer if you want to. I would never guess you would even want to do high-end designer stuff. Well, for one, that's when I was like a nine to five employees.

So that was about making a shoe that was the best thing for Versace. It had nothing to do with me being involved. Maybe looking in retrospect, maybe you could see a little bit of the, the, the, the style or the time style. But like for the most part, that was a Versace shoe. But now when the collaborative shoes have my name on it, now I'm able to like really do my dance and kind of do what I want. You have full creative control? Yeah, but it's, but at the same time, there, there is like, I couldn't just come in here and be like, all right, listen, flip flops, Timberlins, let's see how we can merge these ideas. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. You know what I'm saying?

Like, you know, it needs to make like commercial sense. But I think I, I have an, I've had enough of a history of proof of concept and success that now there's trust. So now like they're willing to give me budgets to do the campaigns and no one shows up and I can just like get it done and they're just expecting assets. And so I think with proof of concept in any field, there's more trust and people just expect you to perform. I've noticed over the years though, like the sneaker, the sneaker game has changed a lot from retail to just fashion and in style. But one thing that kind of like blew me away last week. I was talking to my boy and he, last year he sold his Jordan 1 shattered backboards.

He sold them to somebody used. He wore them a couple times, sold them for $500. He just bought them again this year. Last week, they're sitting on the shelves for $130. How does that shift in a year where you can sell this same exact shoe, like resale for $500? And then 12 months later, it's sitting on. the shelves one of the most iconic Jordan ones ever is just sitting on the shelves like how how does the market fluctuate that that like drastically in such a short time so i think i'll give you

two things so one and that's why i believe you know starting a brand right now is is the most appropriate time i've been witnessing the death of hype um i don't think it's dead i don't want it to die i would love to see it yeah i would love to see it be revived however i'm witnessing the death of it it doesn't seem like brands are investing in collaborations as much. They're not telling stories. And the consumer is more educated than they've ever been. So they see through the bullshit like very easily. That combined with like maybe a pending or existing recession, people are not spending money. And there is a huge oversaturation of product and things and gone other times where you would like kind of wait for a release to happen. They're

happening every fucking day. And so now I don't know if people are as invested. And that's why I think the whole brand thing makes sense because it's not about just like, you know, pulling out this like shiny rabbit out of my hat and being like, buy this thing and it'll be gone tomorrow. Yeah. It's more about like long term investment in community building and, uh, and telling stories. Did, did that shift happen? And of course, we don't need to talk about Kanye's politics. But once Kanye went to Adidas after the Nike thing where, you know, it was very tough to get the red octovers. And his goal was to make sure you could afford Yeezys and they were readily available at all times. Like they mass deal. Did that shift happen?

there because now you have what would be quote unquote the hype beast collab once Kanye was with Nike and then you could just walk into any foot locker and get some some easies for a reasonable price once he went over to Adidas like yeah the hype wasn't there I thought that was a good thing because I thought they were quality shoes and affordable yeah and I hate when you can't just go get some shit that that you want but no so that's an interesting it's funny that you say that so and this isn't my take there's this dude jacques slade I've repeated this on like every for every conversation I've had but he pretty much was talking about how the white Jordan cement four has been sitting on shelves and outlets. And people are really upset about that.

But that really shows you how backwards the sneaker community is now. We're like, if there is an iconic shoe and it's accessible, we're angry. Because we're used to, we need to be, like, waiting in line in the rain and being whipped or something or spending an obscene amount of money on resale for you to feel like you own it. Right. And so... You're part of the cool crowd. Exactly.

And so that's kind of how backwards. things are right now. Yeah, that's almost like I feel like in the hip hop world when fans feel like they got to an artist early and then the artist becomes popular and they're mad. It's like, you don't want you. I'm not going to the show. You don't want your favorite artist to be popular. Yeah, yeah. But it is a different time, though, Salé. Like, I mean, I can get a classic Jordan shoe easier than I can get your shoe or easy than I can get Joe Fresh Goods or, you know what I'm saying? And it's like, that is just crazy to me. Like, it's long gone of the days where, you know, Jordan's will sell out.

Yeah. And it's like, I got to go pay resale. Now I'm paying resale for your shoe or Joe Fresh Goods or Action Bronson's New Balance. Like, it's insane the way it has flipped to, you know, it's not just an iconic athlete that's selling sneakers anymore. It's like creators and influencers who have a lot of style and have been in the sneaker industry, the shoe industry for so long who are now doing their own. thing like those are the products that I think we want and believe in more because we kind of feel like we saw a Salehi story we saw him his grind we saw his ascension and now he's here creating this thing where it's like okay I need to be a part of this because his work speaks for

itself his brand throughout the years has told the story and it's a part of the story if I don't have that that's like a chapter that I'm missing out on the Salehi story a little bit is that something that you've done intentionally to create this timeline and the storyline has it been intentional No, I think it's, I've just been kind of like nimble and like, and kind of flex, like flexible. I don't want to, yeah, I would say, yeah, just flexible with the opportunities that I've been given. And I think that now that a lot of the work has had my name on it, there's been this red thread that exists simply because I can like make it how I want to make it. And so I'm also somewhat of a selfish designer because up into this point, pre-brand, a lot of these collaborations were just things I wanted to wear. I was like, what's going to be dope? What's going to be dope? What's going to be dope for this opportunity or this brand, you know?

And so with like a crock, I thought to myself, man, like I respect the brand of crocs. They've existed for decades, but I've never really worn crocs like that. Like maybe had one or two in the closet. They've never really left the house. How could I challenge myself to create a crock that looks cool and that people want to wear and that potentially can like even exist within like this sneaker space, right? So there are even like a lot of decisions with that shoe where like I was like, you know, they put a lot of their crocs in like,

bag. So when you buy a crack, it comes in like a bag. I was like, no, we need to have like a box because I was even asking you about your sneakers. The sneaker stacking ritual is a really important ritual within sneakers. So immediately, if we're making this thing that we wanted the sneaker crowd to respect and they can't even stack their boxes. Yeah. Yeah. We were already behind. Like even your boxes are art is a piece now. Thank you. Like when you get them, it's like, I know by stacking them, obviously, you know, sneakers as we, you stack out boxes is always the label out so we know exactly which one of it is. With yours, I can just look at the color

of the box. Or the texture, whatever you put on top of it. I know exactly what it is. So to me, that's just a certain attention to detail. I think that, you know, guys like you, guys like Joe fresh goods, action bronching, like y'all pay attention to those certain things. How real is the thing

of... We can I reply to that real quick? Oh, yeah, please. So I, so if you think about when you get an iPhone and you peel off that piece of plastic. Yeah. And how smooth it comes up, right? Every piece of real estate on a product is an opportunity to execute detail or display your brand or portray excellence.

So I really, I believe in that. And so whether it's the packaging or any of that stuff, I think that lets people know that it's the brand. And so if you think about that Apple example, like if you got an iPhone, then you peeled the plastic off and it was like, you'd be like. Right. Yeah. They just threw this together.

They just do this. This isn't an iPhone. With Apple, it's like excellent. So with all the things I create, I try to be like intentional about, you know, how it's done. How many silhouettes have you, you know, do the companies you work for like the silhouettes that are sitting there where you're like,

okay, let me take these and put the Salehi spin on it because a lot of the Yeezys that we've seen. He's posted silhouettes that aren't coming out that have pissed me off. You could have kept that to yourself. You didn't need to put it on Instagram. But like I can imagine these brands like Puma and Adidas with Yeezy. They just have this warehouse full of

Silhouettes that they can't move. Like, quote unquote, the dad sneaker. I think the Wave Runner is his dad sneaker that Kanye just got his hands on and put some beautiful pallets to it and just kind of like how, how often does that happen when the brand reaches out to you and says, hey, we want to, we want to partner with you. We want to bring you in. Like, how often do you just go into the warehouse and just see the silhouettes and like, okay, I want these four and let me do my thing with these?

So it kind of depends on the amount of time that you have, right? because to actually make a shoe both design it and then develop it, like when I say develop it, I mean like factories, samples, that whole exchange, that can take up to a year. So like even the Halliburn shoe, for example, like that took like a year. But then these runners that I recently came out with Puma, that is an existing shoe that I've kind of missed her potato headed some like new details on to make it feel fresh.

Okay. The way that I differ as a collaborator is I'm a classically trained designer. I went to school for this shit. I can take a white piece of paper and create something and make it into a real shoe. Classically trained designer. Yeah. I don't know if that's my term.

I've been saying that. That sounds fly right. It's like the Juilliard version of design. I really went to school for this. Yeah, I went to school for this. So I make things. You know your shit. I know my shit.

And I think there's a difference with collaborations where they might take a shoe and just add color to it. and then what I do, which is design something from the ground up. And I'm not devaluing that at all because some of the best collaborations of our time are color-ups. So I want to make that very clear. Yeah. But there's a difference.

And so, you know, getting the opportunity with a brand to, like, go into their archive and take a shoe and then give a color, that's a cool opportunity. But I am definitely way more attracted to making something new. Yeah. You know, and then what's cool is like there's a Steve Jobs quote that says the audience or the consumer doesn't know what they one until you show it to them. And so I think, you know, the crock is a perfect example of that. Because if you were to ask people, like a lot of the people, you know, the amount of messages that I got that said like, like, this made me wear crocs for the first time. Like, if you had asked those people a year ago, like, hey, like, you're going to be wearing crocs to like,

the club. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. But that's just an example of them not knowing what they want into the show, you know. Or making a sensible shoe cool. Yeah. Because crocs were always, they were always comfortable. They were comfortable. It was just, it was the mom started it. Yeah. So it just kind of. turned into that type of image of like, I can't just be walking outside and crocs, I'm going to get smoke. Yeah, no, Salini's crock is the first crock I ever wore, like, to the airport. That's like a great airport.

Yeah, bro, good travel shoe. Good travel shoe. I just recently bought, I don't know if we called it the forest print one that you just put. I bought that resale. Pre-cambo, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. I went right to the resale to get that shit. Now, how often do you play with, like, textures? Because I've noticed on a lot of your sneakers, the textures get a little different,

depending on what it is, especially the ones with the whistle, on it like that whole shoe just felt like a whole thing that we used like I don't want this here I want this here how often do you jump into projects like that where you're like I want to think of the craziest shit yeah and just execute it so that year one that was that was called the yurt the whistle one yeah so that was new balance I had two shoes prior which were color ups that's why I'm not hating on color ups I've had I've had a many collaborations of color ups and then they wanted me to design something from scratch um they wanted the I guess the foundation of the shoe had to be the five seven four four you guys familiar with it was a 5774 i'm not the craziest about the 5774 so i put a lot of details on that to try to make it feel different um so it's kind of a mr mr potato head execution yeah and then yeah i was hiking a lot and there's coyote like there you could be hiking and see a coyote or you could be hiking and see a mound line i've never seen a mound line but you need tools i hike with like some weapons yeah you know because if you you don't want to be caught without it yeah yeah when a fucking lion rolls up on yeah i like i like the whistle but i was like your from New York. Like, where can I stash the, you know what I mean? Make the, make the, make the,

make the, make the, make the, make the, put the box cutter in my shit. And how dirty, uh, New York city is, I might just, I might just get beat up. Yeah, yeah. I'm not, I'm not, I'm not, we're not doing that, but let me, LA hiking. That's a little different. I can handle that. Yeah, put a little pocket where I can put the blade in right there. Yeah, absolutely. Um, so who's some of the greatest sneaker designers that you've had an opportunity to sit with and kind of just like soak up some knowledge and some I love that. I've never been asked that question. There's an opportunity to just shout out some OGs.

Is Tinkering an asshole? I've only met him on some like shake his hand, maybe take a photo. Actually, no, I've never taken a photo with him, but just shake his hand. So I would, I don't know. I have no idea. That's just my favorite. Yeah, no, he's, no, he's, oh, because you're saying, see behind the nerd. I don't know he's an asshole, I'm sorry.

Oh, no, I think he's a good guy. There's a, there's a Netflix dot called Abstract. Uh-huh. So I watched that. He looked good on. He looked like a good dude. Yeah, it looked like a cool guy. Yeah. So Nathan Mann Hook. He is a designer that was at Nike for a bunch of years.

He designed the Yeezy 2. He was head of ACG for a very long time. He has banger after banger. And then he went to Montclair. And when I did my Monclair collaboration, got to work with him there, which was cool, just kind of like working with an idol. And now he is currently at Adidas doing like Adidas basketball. Another Jeff Henderson.

Yeah. Yeah. So I've brought him up in probably every interview I've done. He was at Nike for like 20 years. We met at Koh Hahn. I worked under him there. And then he helped me actually get the easy gig because he was doing some design work with him. Is that the one you got when you DM somebody on LinkedIn?

That was for Versace. I can tell that story as well. Okay. And then who else is a good designer? Hmm. Oh, yeah. Fardine has Rati Zade. He was my assistant designer at Versace.

Okay. So when I get into that Versailles, I explain that. But it was just me and him, and we were just doing a gang of shoes together. And now he works at Amiri, and he's killing things, like doing shoes and accessories. It's just cool to, like, have someone to work under you and then see them grow. See them grow. See what it go. Yeah.

And then blossom. Shoes, shoes. Who else? Tebow is, he used to be the Dior footwear designer. So he designed, like, the B-22. This was around the time of like the triple S and around the period of time. And he is now, he now does footwear and sneakers for LV as well as a pretty cool Birkenstock collab that he just did.

There's a pretty small community of footwear designers. And we seem to all know each other because it's like a very specific craft. So yeah, shout out all those people. So now, where's the brand now? Okay, so when I first left Versace and I was going to kind of like be out on my own, The first thing that I knew was just to make a t-shirt company. I grew up in Tribeca, Lower East Side Kid, grew up on all these A-Life and all these stores.

How to Make it in America. Boom, exactly that. Like, when that show was on, I was literally living that exact life. So I was like, that was one of the most legendary shows of all time. Absolutely. Shout out Brian. I don't know the other guy's name. And bring me back.

Bring me back. Bring me back. To How to American America took me somewhere. Sponge. Yeah. Sponged. Yeah. You started reminiscing.

Yeah. Yeah. So ladies started going back there. Like I was selling Nick, yeah, so I started making t-shirts, yeah, making hoodies,

making sweatpants and stuff. And it really existed as like a streetwear brand. So that, you know, things were selling out. But I wasn't really like wearing the stuff too much. It was just more an umbrella

for me to kind of do whatever I wanted because I had existed in this space for so long where we were following trends and trying to hit different consumers. And I was like, you know what, let me just make some patterned sweatpants just because I want to, right?

So it was more so freedom. Now with this, is as I am making a real proper brand with ownership and partners and all the resources that I would need to compete with the Fortwear giants that exist in our space and have existed for the last like 30, 40 years. And so yeah, this is the result. It will not exist in hype that much. It'll be more about serving as many people that want to be involved in the operation as possible and it'll be about bringing in community. Because a lot of my work in the past

at least six years has been about exclusion and hype and you can't get this and that's literally how we started this. Like I can't get the shoes. The idea is at a certain point anyone that won Sponge for where it will be able to get it. There will be some certain moments of hype because that's where I come from. But this is about the full pie.

Was that the plan with the SpongeBrand? Because even like years ago when you were doing the Crock stuff and even other collabs, you would send the friends family shit through the sponge website, which wasn't always the sponge brand. Yeah, so that was kind of like a little corporate finessing I did. So every new balance and Crocs campaign, I believe, featured Sponge Sox. Yeah.

And what I was doing with that was kind of hijacking all of those campaigns on a very sub, like on a lower level, like not a lot. lower level, but kind of like in a secret way, if you will. Very intentional level. Intentional, but like low as a way to just publicize the logo. Yeah. Because the most, the valuable thing about a logo is the amount of times you've seen it. Because then it becomes more and more like recognizable, iconic, whatever.

So I'm thinking to myself, if I have some far off plan of starting a brand, why not just like inject it into these campaigns? And I wasn't really thinking like hijacked. That's more like our like, no, it was tastefully. Yeah, it was like it wasn't like it was. your face. And then also the models needed clothes to wear. So often the clothes were all sponge. And so this was like kind of like a lot of these campaigns like had massive budgets. So I was like it was kind of a hijacking in a sense. Respectful one I think. Yeah. No, it was a perfect way to go about it. Because that's how I even got familiar to it. And then when the website, I didn't

fully know. I just knew that that was part of your brand. Spunge somehow has to do with you. So that made more sense with launching the sponge shoes to be like, okay, this was the next. step in the entire process. Yeah, I mean, it existed as an Instagram with no photos for like years. And my, my platform for where I sold my, my collaborations was called Be a Sponge. So then that was also kind of a way to publicize what I, I don't know exactly. I was sure I was ready to do yet, but on the maybe opportunity on the horizon. And then now this moment is really more about like a transition.

So collaborations will continue. but I really want to explore full brand ownership and get to create freely and not necessarily collaboratively because when you create collaboratively there are obstacles, things don't always go your way. When you have two different parties trying to reach a common destination, different parties want different things. Yeah. And so now with this brand, it's just going to be mine and I'm excited.

Would you rather sell, would you rather make 100 shoes and sell 100 shoes or make $1,000 and sell $6.50? Make 100 shoes and sell 100 shoes. Or make $1,000 and sell $6.50. Well, I don't get what you're asking me. That's a lot of numbers. Because would you rather keep it, no, I'm just saying,

because would you rather keep it like very small, a very small release or a wider release, but you don't sell all the way through, like the shoe to sell out? Oh, I think it depends what part of the business that you're in. You know, if you're introducing a brand, it might be a little bit different. Because going back to the whole demand thing, it's like, if a shoe releases right now,

and they make enough for everybody and maybe someone in your life that you don't deem to be cool has them, you're taking them off immediately, right? But then if a shoe releases and you can't get it at all and it's too rare you're also upset. Yeah, because then I see a kid walking down fucking

Kenmare that has him on it. I'm like, he's not even doing those. He went in some bullshit. Like, how do fuck he got? I can't even get those. Yeah. So it's tough. He stood online. He got them. Yeah. And it's like, now I'm mad because I'm like, they only made a hundred of those. Like, Yeah, but that was even like when you were a kid and the richer kid at your school got the New Jordans, but he laced them too tight, wore him with corduroys. Like he didn't even like, you don't even deserve those type of sneakers.

That's just, that's sneaker culture. That's kind of like what comes like, all right, so words, the definition of words change as time goes. In 2025, would you consider yourself a sneakerhead? Everyone was hype beast and then you figured out your tribe and it went to sneaker heads at that point. But even with hype piece though, hype beast used to be or is, but. used to be like one of the only websites that documented this culture. So it was the website. And then I think again, the media was like, what do we call these people?

And it like, Hype East shouldn't have ended up being somewhat of an insult to somebody. Like you were Hype Beast, which is fucked up. Yeah. Because you're right. Hype Beast was the only one that was, it was during like the blog era of music. Yeah.

Like that first early time of, I think even tastemakers culture was off Hype beast. Then the world found out about it and you got a bunch of dweaves that are in the same line as you Yeah, and then it's like, you're fucking hypebees. Yeah, but it's almost a perspective thing because there are some people that are happy to be called hipster and there's some people that would hate to be called hipster. Yeah. Yeah, I never minded it until again, words take new definitions as time goes because in the beginning, yeah, like a hipster would have never offended me. It's fine with me.

Cool. Yeah. Now I know you're saying something else. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah, it's true. So, yeah, I think sneakerhead now has gotten that, that insult to some degree, too. Yeah, because when people ask me, like, oh, you want a 10 outside Supreme Store right now?

Like, you can fuck away from me. I don't think I'm a sneakerhead. Well, I honestly think I don't think. I don't chase the sneakers. You appreciate that. I appreciate it. If I like it, I get it. But, like, I think a sneakerhead is a kid that you see at every release.

He's chasing every drop. There's nothing wrong with it. There's nothing wrong with it. That might be a reseller, though. But I think, though, I think now that's it. I'm glad you said that because I think it's one and the same. Oh, no, I think there's a difference. I think sneak aheads, I think a lot of sneak aheads are now resellers.

I just had a, I just came from a signing at Kith. And there are some kids there. They were like really happy to meet me, me, want to take a photo, ask me a question. There's a few kids there that just get it signed and walk away. Yeah. You could tell the difference. Yeah, yeah. And there are resellers.

Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. They're there for this. And they're gone. And they're gone. Yeah. But I mean, I'm not.

The resale game, how do you feel about that? Like, how do you feel seeing your sneakers sold for double which you sold them on your website? Like, is it like you don't care once they buy it, but they do with it is not your business? Or do you still kind of feel like, I wish they weren't doing that? I think everyone has a hustle.

I think I came from this. I used to camp Supreme, what is it? Well, there's a new Supreme, but the old Supreme that was maybe 10 blocks from here, I used to camp out there as a high schooler. buy a $200 pair of shoes and sell them the same day for $2,000. And so, like, I can't hate on anyone getting that kind of hustle in, you know what I mean? And those are great experiences.

I remember just like camping out, going to the bathroom in bodegas, watching family guy, my portable DVD player. Those were good times, you know what I mean? Well, back when they were selling the Supreme Cheese on the table. Yeah, yeah. They just had the T-shirt on the folding table. They got me for 256 on his crocs last week. Okay.

So, you guys can, you just hit me. I don't like to bother. Well, now you can. Yeah, I'm that guy, bro. You know how many people hit me? Like, yo, the Salehes, I'm like, I just be biting my leg. I'm like, these fucking joints are so far, but I'm not hitting Salahey. Yeah.

I'm just not that. I don't like doing it. If I can get them, I'll get them. I'll support. No, this is a perfect transition for my Versace story because it's about asking. You guys ready? Okay. I'm ready.

Moore, I know you're thinking about upgrading to an all-new iPhone 17 Pro designed to be the best and most powerful iPhone ever. You're my thoughts again. Yeah, listen, man. Weeks you've been thinking about this. Whatever, are you also thinking about the traffic on the way there? I think about that all the time, Roe. Yes, you and traffic has always been anything. As a matter of fact, that's one of your best lives.

Absolutely. Well, good news, mall. When you order a new phone online with Boost Mobile to send an expert right to our office, they'll set up your whole iPhone 17 with Boost Mobile within minutes, no hassle whatsoever. Visit boostmobile.com to get started. Delivery available for select devices purchased at boostmobile.com, terms apply. Today's show is brought to you by a new presented sponsor, Hard Rock Bet. When you think of Hard Rock, you're probably thinking of music or world-class hotels and casinos.

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Well, somewhere along the way, this platform became bigger than I ever imagined. And now I'm bringing all of that excitement to my brand new podcast, The Clifford Show. This is a place for raw, unfiltered conversations with some of your favorite athletes, creators, and voices that not only deserve to be heard, but celebrated. One week, I'll take you behind the scenes

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this is right where you need to be. Listen to The Clifford show on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast. And for more behind the scenes, follow at Clifford and at TikTok Podcast Network on TikTok. Do you remember when Diana Ross double-tap Little Kim's boobs at the VMAs? Or when Kanye said that George Bush didn't like black people. I know what you're thinking. What the hell does George Bush got to do with Little Kim? Well, you can find out on The Look Back at it podcast.

I'm Sam J. And I'm Alex English. Each episode, we pick it here, unpack what went down, and try to make sense of how we survived it. Including a recent episode with Mark Lamont Hill, waxing all about crack in the 80s. To be clear, 84 is big to me, not just because of crack. I'm down to talk about crack all day, but just so y'all know.

I mean, at this point, Mark, this is the second episode where we've discussed crack. So I'm starting to see that there's a through line. We also have AIDS on the table right now. Thank you for finishing that. I don't think there's a more important year for black people. Really? Yeah.

For me, it's one of the most important years for black people in American history. Listen to look back at it on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Will Ferrell's Big Money Players and IHeart Podcasts presents soccer moms. So I'm Leanne. Yeah. This is my best friend, Janet. Hey. And we have been joined at the Hips since high school.

Absolutely. Now a redacted amount of years later, we're still joined at the hip. Just a little bit bigger hips, wider. This is a podcast. We're recording it as we tailgate our youth soccer games in the back of my Honda Odyssey. With all the snacks and drink. Sidebar. Why did you get hard seltzer instead of beer?

Oh, they had a bogo. Well, then you got it. Do you want a white collar or something here? Just take it. What are y'all doing? Microphones? Are you making a rap album? Oh, I would.

Come on. Can you put? I would buy it. Cut through the defense like a hot knife through sponge cake. That sounds delicious. Oh, you're lucky I'm not a drug addict. You're lucky I'm not an alcoholic. You're lucky I'm not a killer.

I love this team and I'm really trying to be a figure in their lives that they can rely on. Oh. Listen to soccer moms on the Iheart radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Why is everyone obsessed with romance right now? Like everyone? Your coworker who, quote unquote, doesn't read, is reading romance. Your mom, book talk, the entire internet.

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years. We're getting into dark romance, age gaps, certain Russian hockey players, and sentient objects, in love, which is a thing. That's the kind of conversation we're having every episode. Listen to the Radio 831 podcast starting on May 7th on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. I feel like it was a little bit unbelievable until I really start making money. It's Financial Literacy Month, and the podcast, Eating While Broke, is bringing real conversations about money, growth, and building your future. This month, hear from top streamer Zoe Spencer and venture capitalist Lakeisha Landrum Pierre as they share their journeys from starting out to leveling up.

If I'm outside with my parents and they're seeing all these people come up to me for pictures, it's like, what? Today now, obviously, it's like 100%. They believe everything. But at first, it was just like, you got to go get a real job. There's an economic component to community striving. If there's not enough money and entrepreneurship happening in communities, they fail. And what I mean by fail is they don't have money to pay for food.

They cannot feed their kids. They do not have homes. Communities don't work unless there's money flowing through them. Listen to Eating While Broke from the Black Effect Podcast Network on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast. Okay, so I moved to L.A. to design for Kanye. Different conversation. That job exists for about 14 months. It ends.

and now I'm looking up and I'm like, oh, I'm in Los Angeles because I'm in New Yorker. I moved out there for that job. I never knew that, but I'm glad to do that. Native New Yorker moved out there for that job, been out there for like 10 years now. And so I look up and I'm like, oh, I'm in Los Angeles.

I got to figure it out. I start freelancing for different brands. No, like, good brands, but just brands to make a paycheck. Yeah. I get to the end of that year. I have two months rent left. I don't really know what I'm going to do. I'm shooting my shot everywhere on LinkedIn

and Craigslist and, just everywhere, right? Just hoping anyone replies. So it's not even about getting like a flashy job. It's just about getting a job, getting a paycheck. And then I see a Versace design director and I hit him up and I propose an opportunity. I'm like, the sneaker industry is a multi-billion dollar business. When we were growing up, it was about Nike, Reebok, Adidas, Puma, New Balance.

And now, when I said this, it was five years ago. Now five years ago because of Raff, Raph Adidas, Nike Commer Garso, and Blentziaga starts making cool shit. Now this multi-billion dollar consumer is aware of the fact that fashion houses can make sneakers. Yeah. So I was like it's an opportunity for you guys. Why? Yeah. What'd you say?

Y3. Exactly. Y3 as well. I feel like Dior was putting out out of all the those types of. This exact time. Yeah. It was like this perfect storm of brands like, like a light bulb moment of like, wait, we can make shoes too. So this is me just fishing.

And bite from a lot of other shoes. But that's another car. Yeah, another. But I saw the question three's in, in no streams. and they was Davis-Mars Zill. I was like, yeah, what to fuck? Wait, table that, because I got a perspective on that. So, wait, where am I, where my, LinkedIn?

You were talking with somebody at Versacea. And so I proposed that opportunity, just shooting my shot. I'm like the image of unemployment in my underwear, eating cereal, like on my couch and shit. And three days later, Donatella replied to me, Donatella Versace. And I wasn't that familiar with who she was because I didn't go to school for fashion, but I just knew that there was like this important blonde lady in that. black, that were black in high fashion, right? So I was like, I know this is someone, right?

And so I, um, she says, she reaches out and she says she wants me to come to Milan and tell her more. And I'm going to just go out there with a few pages of like trend of like, like, probably just screenshots from Hype Beast of like, like, you guys ever heard of camo? You know, like, that's where my taste was. Yeah, yeah, yeah. You know, yeah, yeah. Camo and some Jordan floor. Yeah, yeah, yeah.

You know what I mean? Really turn the fashion world on its ear with that. Yeah. Yeah. But then the week leading up, it was strange. Someone was like, you should do some sample design work. Don't assume they know you can design. Someone else was like, go to the store, see what's selling, do your market research.

Another person was like there aren't any people that look like me or you in the high fashion space. So it's bigger than us or bigger than me and I could be paving away. So what was going to be like a four page presentation turned into like a 40 page presentation? I go out to Milan, present to Donatello one-on-one. She starts bringing people into the room. She loves it. At the end of it, she's like, I love you. I want to hire you.

I want you to move out to Milan. or what do you want to do? She was like, do you want to consult? Do you want to come out here for like a season? What do you want? So she was so flexible about it. I was like, can I have my own design studio in L.A. And then I'll come here once a month for shows and all that kind of stuff, factory visits and stuff. And she was like, sure. So then I went outside and did my like pursuit of happiness. Absolutely. That's also a moment. But to speak to her too, usually, especially on this podcast, we shit on a lot of execs. That's an amazing story from an exec perspective too. Yeah. I wasn't expecting that story about it.

Yeah, yeah. Like, of what you've turned out to be. Clearly she saw a vision that you had and knew how talented you were. Yes, because that's a crazy thing to just be that flexible. Like, what do you want to do? Most execs don't do that type of stuff. Not taking anything. Especially when it's unproven.

She changed my life. So not taking anything away from the decision that she made and maybe what she saw on me. But another thing that was happening simultaneously was Virgil was just doing what he did at LV. Yeah, of course. And so now you have this world, this high, fashion world that maybe isn't the most familiar with people that look like a Virgil or myself doing shit like that. And so I definitely think that the storm that he was creating where he was was kind of just opening up to the eyes to that entire world. Sure. You know, and not completely,

but just maybe making them think like, damn. And then not only that, it was, I'm another one coming off the Kanye tree. And during that period of time, anyone that was a designer, and actually I was just on the cutting room floor and she made me realize this. A male designer, which I believe to be true, by just proximity, you were knighted. You were also magical. So, like, I think the combination of Donatella, you know, observing something in me, but then also Virgil showing them what we can do, and then also having a little bit of that easy dust on me. How much of influence, speaking of Virgil, was Virgil for you? with everything he did with off white

and then what he did obviously with footwear and now to what Farrell is doing like these are guys that I mean Farrell in particular somebody that we've always looked at and always just like had the right pieces on and the way he put it together was always just a fashionable person

but to see the spaces that Farrell's in now obviously how much of that inspires you and has helped you along your journey I mean I would just say with a Virgil it was really more about represent I think the obvious things are like wow like it's like Obama becoming president right is like wow we can get there we can we can be accepting this space and have success But then it was like the smaller things that I was recently saying this is

Simply I'm just traveling like traveling business class in a hoodie With Jordan's on and then he gets to the airport an old white dude picks him up grabs his bags for him he's in the back of whatever dope car and like these are like superficial things but then also they were very eye-opening because any I've seen this in a movie, it was a white guy in a suit. Right. You know what I mean? And so now I was like, wow, like, I can have this too and I don't have to be a rapper to do it. Yeah. So just that level of representation and inspiration was really powerful just because I had never really seen it done like that before. And now he's going into this like high fashion environment and accepted. And so that's ultimately

what I achieved at Versace. You know, I was in this environment wearing like Obama Supreme like cropped pants and like, and like hoodies and tie-dye shirts. But it was like I belong and I brought value. And so I think, you know, getting to witness what he did made me comfortable doing what I did. And then for a Farrell, I think more he's like a representation of like a black alien. There are just some individuals that have kind of just inspired me and reminding me that that black people exist on a spectrum. And it's not a monolith. And so where something may have been like written off as like weird, like weirdo shit. shout out Troy Ave

um it's the ladies fucking I mean if you go through that Kendrick and Troy Ave Biva I think we see where it landed but um yeah I just think that like it's like people like Pharrell or Tyler or yay

or even myself for people to see and just simply witness different regardless of talent or anything just witnessed confidence and being different in individualism. And, you know, so just that's why I lean into just being myself so much, you know, because I've witnessed people like a Farrell, do the same and get so much success from it. Literally being himself.

Being himself, you know. At a time when it was corny to be everything that Farrell was when he first entered into the world. I do want to ask you, again, with how these high-end designers have been remixing shoes. It's getting like a little insane. Who redid this, Sam Smith joint? Everyone was wearing those forever. Oh, McQueen.

Yeah, McQueen. The McQueen ones with that. When we was in Atlanta and the shit across from the mall you get killed at, they got the high-end mall. I went in there, the Margella's. It was really the question three's. I was like, this is that,

they're not even trying to hide it. It's legitimately the question three. Yeah. I think it's at the end of the day, it's like business. and I don't think they're like this is purely speculation but I don't think they're too invested

in like that conversation because they don't really give a fuck and they also know I think they know that their consumer doesn't either know about the original shoot nor do they give a fuck like I think if you went up to someone wearing those like McQueen's

that are maybe like $800 and you were like those look like $135 Adidas they'd be like get that of my face you know what I mean and so I don't know if the consumers are even like

yeah well even from the stance or even the questions, though, like, is there a designer that's in that office that's putting that up on a projector? Like, let's literally just redo this. Well, if you think about it, like, if there was a shoe that's been successful for like 50 years, and then you identify that,

you can probably make money off of it. I'm not saying that's something I would ever want to do, but especially if you're a brand that maybe your four business isn't thriving, one of the smartest things in the world would be to just identify like a classic shoe. Because also McQueen did it with a, I think, an Airmax 90 or an Airmax 1. There's a shoe that's exactly like that. Air Max 95.

Maybe. Maybe. Maybe. Did that was insane. Yeah, I think they're more so worried about the, like the, at least in the sneaker game, the business instead of the over the design integrity, perhaps. You guys were talking off Mike that you feel like merch-wise, you really don't need anything past a Gilden hoodie. Yeah.

I thought that was an interesting combo you guys were having off microphone. Yeah. I think a lot of people that listen to this that do their own merch would want to. I understand what Salih is saying because when you look at guys like, you know, what Westside Gunn was able to do with their merch. I mean, those were champion blanks. Yeah. And West might have two fucking Rose Royces and two howling off and stuff.

Yeah. Fucking, you know, champion blinks. But I just, you know, I just feel like now more than ever quality and texture. Mm-hmm. I think those are kind of what set yourself a. part. I get what you're saying. If you're selling, you know, mass amounts of merch, then, you know, you can kind of like, but I still feel like, you know, when you have something that lasts, you know, something that you know, I can have this hoodie for three years. I can wash it over and over

when it gets better with each wash, kind of like the worn look. I just feel like to me, I'm on that side of the merch. Because I want to wear my merch. Like, I want to just have it and collect it. I want to wear this. I want to wash it. I want to be able to travel with it. Do you still feel like the lesser quality or the lighter quality, not as heavy on the quality, but obviously just the moment being able to have something that says, okay, I was a part of this moment. You think that's the more important part of it?

Yeah, because I think all the things you listed are things that people expect from a brand, not merch. Like if you saw someone right now... But merch is almost a brand now these days, no? That's a good point. But I think it's a little bit more like temporary, like, because I think merch constantly has to shift with like what the artist is doing and like the moment, whereas a brand is a little bit more timeless.

If you think about like, regardless of how you feel about them currently, but if you think about someone wearing a Yeez's tea or something, you're gonna see that tea and it's gonna bring you back to a time. Especially if it has the year on it, you're gonna be like, oh man, that was when he was floating over the stage or black skinhead or whatever. You're not gonna be like, let me feel that collar. Yeah.

Yeah. Bring that collar. No, no, no. Let me see that. That does make sense. I will say, though, Yeezus to me was the greatest live tour I've ever seen, personally, just my opinion. Blowing the dog was amazing. Insane.

I bought the merch at the Yeez's tour, and outside of the design being cool, and I'm not talking about the Confederate flag one, whatever the other one was. The first thing I did think when I put the shirt on was like, I've never bought merch that was cut this way. It was a good. Okay, well, they cut it different. Like, I remember sitting there like, oh, this is cut different. Like I appreciated that. It felt like a more quality tea. And it was sold at the same price at any concert I would buy merch at the garden.

Yeah, yeah. So I hear you on the merch side, but that did, that did like resonate with me. Like this shirt, I could wear this shirt outside like to a party. Yeah, I love quality. So I'm definitely not speaking against that. But I think the idea of merch is ultimately to have a high margin. Oh, no. Oh, no, on the business side.

Yeah, yeah, yeah. No, absolutely. And so if you're investing, if you're leaning into, like quality too much. Yeah. Your fans will love you. Yeah. But I don't know.

You know, I'm speaking about just merch. Yeah, yeah, yeah. I mean, our first merch line that I think is the greatest podcast merch line that ever existed. Oh, we were, we went in the red purposely. Like, we knew we were going to lose money just based off the quality. And to me, that was the best thing. And I was fine with losing money in that regard because the quality was that good.

That shit was like, damn me or John Elliott hoodie. Yeah. So, like, I think who does it perfectly is like Travis Scott, because I've heard this again. I don't know, no confirmation, but I've heard that the quality of his merch isn't the best, but the design. The quality is terrible. Yeah, but the design. But the design makes the quality look okay when it's on your body. Yeah, like, it's executed.

The design, the color pallets is why he does it well. It's amazing, but it's like I wore the sweatsuit when he did the, I forgot which drop it, which cactus jacked drop it was. Probably was the first or the second one. I wore the sweatsuit, and by the time I got home, like in between the legs right here was like the lint balls. This is a brand new. I'm talking a brand new. First they wore and they had like the lent balls. Like I wore this shit for three summers.

So I'm like, I'm like Travis, we can't be doing this, bro. Another person that does it well with the quality, St. John. Like my St. John sweats. They're like fucking eight years old. They're amazing. He has some of the best merch that I think I've ever seen for any hours. But again, I don't know his business, but I believe he makes a good money off. Oh, he makes a lot of money off a merch.

Like the merch line at his shows after the show is over. is like, it's like almost like a meeting grade. Yeah. Like they're online waiting to get, but again, he makes it very specific to the album. It's the whole story. The album is the drop, like you said, you want to have this. And years they look back like, oh, this is when I went and saw him at this. This was the drop.

This was the album. But again, the quality is also very heavy cotton, very heavy sweats. And I think that's a lot of the reasons why people love his merch because they know I can have this sweatsuit for five, six years. And it's going to look like I just got it last week. Yeah. Whereas with Travis. Again, selling a shit ton of merch. But the quality, I'm like, at this point, he can, I'm not saying it has to be fair God quality.

Yeah. I'm not saying it has to be Jerry. I'm not going to be. But we got to find, we got to get a little closer to quality. To me, it's more cut than it is quality in that. I wasn't mad at the cut. But the fact that I had lent balls in between my legs and I only had the suit on for three hours was crazy. I just thought that, but again, I was happy to have it because it was a moment.

He had just put out the sneaker. Now I've got the sweat to the sneaker. Like you said, it's a whole storyline, so I get that. Who are some of your favorite current designers as far as, like, sneakers? Like, who are you wearing outside of sponge and your products? Whose sneakers do you enjoy wearing? There's this brand called Vizvim. I've heard of them.

You've heard of them? It's a Japanese brand. I've got a jacket over there. They're not really a sneaker brand by any, I wouldn't say, but they make this sandal called the Christo. And it's like this kind of like. Like, you've seen probably Travis Scott or like John Mayer wearing it. Okay. And it's what's funny about it.

There was this like tweet about it that said that the Christo is like the male version of the Louis Bitton Hill because it doesn't feel that good, but you feel like a batty. Okay. Okay. And so it's like, finally. Finally. Yeah. So it's like, it's honestly not the most comfortable, but it's like just a really

well made sandal that you can have for like 10 years and kind of molds your foot like a Birkenstock. And so Visdom as a brand is just like a top tier brand that I love. And then also, you know, it's tough with that question. I'm going to Complex Con on this weekend. And I get asked that question. All these are like kids running up to me asking me if I'm confident and shit. And I can't really shout out a lot of the shoes that I like because I am not in partnership with them.

And so that's an endorsement. I totally get it. Listen, I get it. It's crazy how Salé. He got to like, he got to think like that now. Yeah. I just can't do it. But that's, you know, a testament to.

to the work that he put in. I wanted to not approach this topic because it's going to get me riled up. But tonight is the Knicks home opener. Yeah. And you work with the enemy. Oh yeah, yeah, yeah. Wait, so you guys brought Knicks fans, right?

Die hard. Okay, so first let me tell you. Like live and die on. Let me tell you the full story of this and then you'll understand. Okay. So. Tyree Halliburton for those that don't know.

Yes, yes. Who is enemy number one? Yes. Whooped our fucking ass. So I sign with Puma. It's a new opportunity for me because as you said I've been telling

all these outdoor stories and this is an opportunity to tell basketball story for playing basketball high school basketball basketball, basketball, basketball, basketball camps got a lot of bodies

in that basketball court in Battery Park City. Okay. And I signed with Puma. It's basketball. I'm like, great, I get to like do the whole basketball thing and they also want me to help them sign a basketball player

so they gave me a list of basketball players and the one that I chose was Tyrese Halliborne. Truthfully, I chose him because I saw what he did to the Knicks, not this most recent playoffs, but the one before. Yeah, yeah.

It's been rough both times. And so we have to pitch to him, we sign him, we make the shoe, and then he has the most like amazing, you know, season, whatever. In response to what you just said, if it was between your team and your career, what do you choose in? Of course. And what's funny is after that last playoff series, like, you know, of course we shit it on Saris Halliburton every time we got a mic in front of us.

But once we got beat, it was like, that was one of the best playoff performances I've ever seen in my entire life. Like, he is one of the most talented players. Oh, yeah. It's like, definitely. Yeah, no, of course I work with him. But as in New York, I was a little mad when I found out you were the one doing a sneaker.

No, I mean, listen, like, anytime I'm around him, I'm vocal about the next thing. He talks this shit too. So, yeah, there's a nice relationship there. I remember game one of the finals because we were trying to figure out when he was going to wear the shoes I was telling him to wear him against New York obviously selfishly he was like not going to wait for the finals

so he had the vision that he already knew there he already knew and then I thought that I would get emotional if I saw him like hit a three or dunk because this is something basketball is the reason that I became a forward designer and I saw him stretching in the tunnel and I started weeping like proper like

really yeah that's amazing though This was the little kid in me finally accomplishing the thing I wanted to accomplish my entire life at that moment, you know? And so I cried and then he hit the game winner. Cried again. These shoes are going to. No, you know, you know what I did then? I like, I like yelled so fucking loud because there have been a decent amount of people that have not allowed me to have this opportunity of designing a basketball shoot. Let's shit on them.

So let's shit on them. You said it now. So I will say that I definitely felt some level of redemption when that happened. And then at the end of it, or right after that, he's at the press conference with the shoes on the desk and he's giving credit to the shoes. Love that. And so it couldn't have been a more perfect rollout for sure. Some storybook shit. And then unfortunately it ended it the way it did.

But, you know, even him making that decision to play in that game is, you know, a testament to him as a player. So I'm a Knicks fan. But also my career is way more important. And, you know, Tyree Talburn is a monster. not going to help you if you're down to two months rent there you go not at all I can promise you not at all not at all I still haven't been able to get any nix tickets from the next exactly so yeah fuck that man but yeah it definitely it was weird like I was in Indiana we just did a pop up for the hallie mart um where I'm like doing Pacers trivia with Pacers fans and like as a Nick fan that's

I know that is because some of their best trivia is killing us yeah yeah that is their whole legacy is just destroying arts That is fire. So talk to us about this book. Passing this book, where are we are again. The book is fine. I mean, just the aesthetic, like it's hard. Yeah, the material and everything.

I make shoes, salet. I make shoes published by Rosoli. The front is a painting by my buddy, Delphin Finley. Wait, hold on, not to cut you up. Yes. The texture of this book. And I like how he did like a tracklist album on the neck. Yeah, this is insane.

Like, again, assillate attention to detail, man. I love it, bro. I love it. I can't take all the credit. A design agency named PlayLab or called PlayLab. Look at this. They designed the book, so credit to them.

Dolphin Family painted the cover. I think I'm one of the first non-wrappers to get an Andre feature. We got an Andre feature in that book. Wow. Which was going to be my last question before we got out here? Yeah, yeah. So Andre and I have sparked a friendship. We hike often.

And I've just found on these hikes, like with him, and a lot of other people, I have a lot of great conversations. Yeah. I don't know if it's because you're like isolated, common goal, nature. But we've had many. And when I was doing this book, I was like, bro, is there any way we could like record one of them transcribe it and put it in the book? So that's what that is. There's a good six or seven pages of just, oh, wait, go back, go back.

You're right there the small. That right there. That is, there we go. We're back. That is myself, O.J. Simpson, Nicole Brown, Simpson and the Ninja Turtles. Yes. And my dad took that photo. Yes. And that's history right there. This should have been, this should have been the cover. Can I use this photo as my next single? That's the wildest photo I've ever seen. All right. So where was this at when you saw O.J.

So my dad's a photographer and I think he had to, I think, I think, I think OJ was doing something with the Ninja Turtles. And I was, I wouldn't to come because I was psyched to meet the Ninja Turtles. I didn't know who OJ was. Yeah, yeah. I'm wearing like a Ninja Turtle's like jumpsuit. Yeah. That rat costume is crazy. And then, and then actually that next page right there,

that is a letter from Sheck West, like a good, like eight years ago. Before he was like, Shaq West. And it's hilarious. Obviously, don't need to read it now, but it's a really good letter.

And he starts it with, this is a piece of art. And when I read it at the time, I thought he was crazy, but reading it going back now, like, it actually is a piece of art. Yeah.

No, this is this, this, This book is incredible, man. I can't wait to really get into it and read it. And yeah, the attention to this is fire. Yeah. This is dope. With some of those hikes, obviously a lot of, you know,

those conversations with Andre 3000 on those hikes would be private and personal. Outside of the one in the book, is there any that you can share of just what that relationship has been like? I think one of the most powerful things that I've witnessed with him is just like that he's really human. and just some of the vulnerability that he's displayed was kind of refreshing because you think some of these people that are living at such a high level are like these godlike creatures,

but with some of our hikes, it was around the time of like right before his flute album and just some of the things he expressed about being uncertain about making certain decisions or even releasing a flute album was really empowering because myself at whatever level I'm at, I have so many insecurities and vulnerabilities and imposter syndromes,

but you look at all the people that we like worship and you're like no they just they cough yeah yeah they must be so sure of everything right and so just to kind of like um witness that I thought was pretty powerful yeah that was dope man yeah that was uh there's been a running joke on this podcast well not even a running joke it's been a fact uh everyone has met Andre 3000 except you in soho

and I remember after that joke started it must have been the first week I saw he was in your studio your crib playing a flute and I was like So everybody, JNP. Yeah, he just avoid you, Roy. He doesn't want to meet you, you got to L.A. That's where he's where he'd be. Yeah, I've read some article. Venice, he's like full-time or something.

I don't know about all that. I wouldn't say something that he didn't put in. Oh, okay, okay, okay. Whatever the only piece he did after the flute album, talked about how he met even some of the band members of that. They all went to the same grocery store in Venice and that he was living in Venice, and that's how the whole shit had came together.

Book available when? It is available now. You can go to any retailer that has Rosoli Books or Amazon or Barnes & Noble. Go get this, man. Yeah, go get it. Support me. This is amazing. Sponge available.

Sponge available. Also now on be a sponge.com. And we were just at Kith and we're about to be a ComplexCon. Oh yeah. I should probably plug that. Going to have a booth at ComplexCon, a Sponge Booth. There will also be a Salehi Museum of just past samples and projects that I've worked on. and this is maybe you could consider it like the doorway to this brand I'm about to launch as well as the book.

Love it. Before you go, any plans for brick and mortar in New York City? I think any brand that has a brick and mortar first needs to have success digitally. So that is right now the goal. And then for the first store, if it were up to me, I'd actually probably be in Japan. Yeah, I'm a New Yorker. I say that five times before anyone has. But you got that, you got that aesthetic, the old Japanese guy. You can wear like, that's your shit. Yeah, Japanese fashion inspires me.

Definitely. Because I think in America, in America, is everywhere now. I feel like in America, there's so many rules about like what you can wear at what age. And where you can wear it. And where you can wear it. But then in Japan, like, you'll see like a 60-year-old, 70-year-old dude in like full camo and some Jordans. Yeah.

And he's like being taking very seriously. Right. And I, you know what I mean? I like that. He's being taken seriously. You know, and so I just, that inspires me. So now it's like, you know, where we're told that like, maybe someone of a certain age can't wear like yeah fit like i think that's only our culture exactly we only be exactly and

exactly and it's something wrong there's something fundamentally wrong with that so so let's thank you for coming through man appreciate it the book is fire i can't wait to really get into it and read it um and just and just you know read more your story um congratulations on everything that you thank you very much support you here and i'm saying it now before we signed off he will be designing the first new rorya mall sneaker it's a fact we're going to make it happen i'm going to keep harassing until we make that happen wait wait wait can we get a shoulder roll can we get these numbers up, get a shoulder roll for him. We are not.

Shout to all the noops. I retired my shoulders. I think in 2012 was the last time I even like hit one of the homes. I don't even know how to work. I'm here. Your back crack. The back is cracking when you're doing it.

Where the shit. You got to pull oil in them shit. That's great. Saléi, thank you, my brother. We appreciate you. I'm that nigga. That's Salahey. Appreciate you, bro.

Appreciate you, bro, man. A witness. win. A win is a win. I don't care what you're saying. Yep, that's me. Clivert Taylor the fourth. You might have seen the skits, my basketball and college football journey, or my career in sports media. Well, now I'm bringing all of that excitement to my brand new podcast, The Cliford Show. This is a place for raw, unfills of conversations with athletes, creators, and voices that not only deserve to be heard, but celebrated. So let's get to it. Listen to the Clivert Show on the IHeard Radio app, Apple Podcast, or wherever you get your podcast. And for more about

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