HOKA’s Trail-Ready Formal Shoe Is the Final Boss of Sneaker-Loafers (EXCLUSIVE)
HOKA is a serious sportswear company — with an extensive selection of super-lightweight running shoes and Vibram Megagrip-soled trail footwear to meet your sporting needs — however, that doesn’t make the brand immune to having some fun once in a while. And in the sneaker world, fun means weird, off-beat, and oftentimes frankensteined together shoes.
Enter, the HOKA Speed Loafer.
While HOKA has dipped its toe into the world of hybrid footwear before — most notably in the form of its Tor Summit model, a cross between an old-school hiking boot with metal lace hoops and a contemporary trail sneaker — it has never gone as far as making a formal shoe into a sneaker.
“There was definitely a lot of excitement, but then also a lot of inquisitive frowns,” says Travis Wiseman, director of lifestyle product at HOKA, when I ask him how the HOKA team reacted when the idea for a sneaker-loafer was first pitched.
“That some people were uncomfortable and other people were super excited was a sign that we were headed in the right direction… but it definitely took some [time to] win folks over.”
As Wiseman admits, this shoe is new territory for HOKA and trying something new will always raise some eyebrows. However, as far loafers go, this is the most HOKA-fied a loafer could be.
The shoe’s sole unit is taken from the Speedgoat 5, a running model designed for technically challenging trails, and has Vibram’s signature traction-heavy Megagrip sole on the bottom. If you are hitting the trails in any pair of loafers, these are your best bet.
“We're a trail running brand, that's what we do day in and day out. We're always trying to find ways to blur the lines of style and performance in a way that feels authentic to us but also feels, at times, a bit disruptive,” says Wiseman.
For HOKA, the disruptive part of this shoe is everything that comes above the sole unit. Crafted from leather, the loafer has a suede mudguard and, where tassels would traditionally sit on a pair of dress shoes, an adjustable drawstring.
Essentially, the Speed Loafer is two entirely different shoe genres meshed together in the most literal way possible. It’s a wild concept, but not necessarily a novel one: hybrid footwear of this ilk is having a big moment right now.
Most notably, New Balance’s 1906L, a cross between a dad sneaker and a formal loafer, has been the most viral of all the sneaker-loafers of late. However, countless other brands have experimented with this type of footwear crossbreeding for some time — including other outdoor brands. And Wiseman isn’t blind to the competition his new loafer faces.
“We see this kind of shoe execution in the marketplace from other brands. What makes our shoe different is the functionality,” says Wiseman. “Having the heart of a HOKA [shoe] in the sole unit and then having that Vibram bottom, we're not cheating the consumer on functionality. The sole has all the bells and whistles the inline performance Speedgoat 5 does.”
Trust HOKA, a leading specialist in state-of-the-art trail footwear, to create the most technically advanced of all the sneaker-loafers.
And this isn’t a one-off, Wiseman tells me that there are more unexpected hybrids in the pipeline for HOKA, although he’s tight-lipped about the exact details. Could we see a pair of HOKA high heels hit the market in the near future, I propose: “I love that,” replies Wiseman. “We really challenge ourselves to blur the lines and live in that weird space of style and performance. So nothing is off the table.”
