John Mayer Reveals Salehe Bembury’s New Balance Collaboration on Instagram

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As fans wait to get their hands on Salehe Bembury’s highly-anticipated New Balance collaboration, one notable sneakerhead already has a pair: John Mayer.

Today, the singer-songwriter shared an image in his Instagram stories wearing Bembury’s iteration of the New Balance 2002. The designer then shared Mayer’s images on his Instagram grid.

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The look features bold hues and earthy tones throughout. It’s upper is predominantly burnt orange with hits of fuchsia, deep yellow and blue, and the midsole and outsole employ white as well as orange and fuchsia.

Despite images of the shoe surfacing, the release date has not yet been revealed.

Bembury shared images of the box from his upcoming New Balance collab on Instagram on July 1, and the next day the designer spoke with FN about the inspiration behind the project.

“The collaboration was inspired by my recent attraction and time spent in nature. Since moving to the West Coast, I’ve really got to take advantage of all the National Parks in close proximity — Bryce Canyon, Zion National Park, Antelope Canyon, the Grand Canyon, Yosemite Park,” Bembury told FN. “I’ve been to all of these within the last year. Sequoia National Forests, the Redwoods. They’re all within relatively close proximity if you consider the United States. And they’re also drastically different.”

He continued, “It’s been a meditative journey. The tagline of the collaboration is ‘Peace Be The Journey.’ Ultimately, that tagline is a metaphor for life, of how we’re all on these journeys and we’re all trying to reach a goal, whether it’s tangible or intangible. That also relates to my hikes. I bust my a** trying to get to the top of these hills that are like 4,000 feet up and I’m sweating and I’m tripping and I’ve sprained my ankle but then you reach the peak and it’s silent and it’s beautiful.”

In a subsequent conversation, Bembury — who serves as Versace’s VP of sneakers and men’s footwear — discussed his independent design work, which has been much discussed as of late and gaining greater recognition.

“The majority of my time and attention is spent on Versace — that’s the thing that inspires me the most and what I have my head buried in most of the time,” Bembury told FN. “And because footwear is my passion, I’m able to work on the side things without really seeing it as extra stress. It’s just more fun for me. Because I manage my time and my work well, [Versace] was nice enough to let me juggle these different projects.”

Although his upcoming project with New Balance is receiving a lot of attention, it’s not his only design project for the year. Bembury confirmed he also has something brewing with China-based athletic company Anta.

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