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“Yes, but you also make a shoe for triathlon,” I responded to Mr. Mermoud. “and once you convert all the sky runners and you want to sell more shoes, you make a shoe that meets the needs of far more runners than you realize.”
This conversation took place was in late 2010, when Mr. Mermoud's footwear line consisted of one model, the Mafate, which was obviously built to be a trail shoe. But there is a nexus of needs between ultrarunners and triathletes; what works for one often works for the other. What the founders of this brand, Messers Mermoud and Jean-Luc Diard, had with that original Hoka was different and special.
This conversation took place was in late 2010, when Mr. Mermoud's footwear line consisted of one model, the Mafate, which was obviously built to be a trail shoe. But there is a nexus of needs between ultrarunners and triathletes; what works for one often works for the other. What the founders of this brand, Messers Mermoud and Jean-Luc Diard, had with that original Hoka was different and special.
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There's an irony, considering the founders' adamant intention to make an offroad shoe, that Hoka was just announced the official shoe of the Ironman North American series. Ironic, but to me the natural evolution of this brand.
A few short months after this conversation Hoka One One manufactured its second model, the Bondi B. This was its first road shoe, which quickly became my go-to shoe for everything: road and offroad, training and racing. This shoe was so different and (for me) ahead of anything ever made by a footwear company that although it was not perfect, and not optimized for every style of running, it was better than every shoe I owned for every reason I owned it.
It is now 2016 and well more than 5 years since I laced up my first pair. A lot has changed. The founders sold their brands to Deckers Corporation, makers of Ugg Australia, Teva and others brands. I wrote at the time that this maker of “fashion” shoes was not simply making a strategic buy; from the CEO down Deckers is run by people who not only broke 40 minutes for 10 kilometers; in their day they broke 30 minutes.
The new owners understood the brand, and its theme, and its features beyond simply maximalism, and they remain attached (mostly) to the themes that underpin this brand.
There are now so many Hoka models I don't know them all. They've made shoes I like better than the Bondi, and I'd wear Hoka's 5th-best shoe before any other brand's best shoe because all other companies have borrowed, but not flat-out stolen, Hokas themes.
This brand has its detractors and you'll find them on our Reader Forum. Some of the complaints are silly. Some are not. Even Hoka fans have complaints. The brand has grown so fast amid changing ownership, factories, product managers, that it's no wonder that there have been snafus in sizing and in the desired versus actual ride of a shoe because a choice in midsole material. Welcome to technical running. Welcome to a 9-figure annual turnover achieved in one-fifth or one-tenth the time it takes most tech footwear companies to get there.
A few short months after this conversation Hoka One One manufactured its second model, the Bondi B. This was its first road shoe, which quickly became my go-to shoe for everything: road and offroad, training and racing. This shoe was so different and (for me) ahead of anything ever made by a footwear company that although it was not perfect, and not optimized for every style of running, it was better than every shoe I owned for every reason I owned it.
It is now 2016 and well more than 5 years since I laced up my first pair. A lot has changed. The founders sold their brands to Deckers Corporation, makers of Ugg Australia, Teva and others brands. I wrote at the time that this maker of “fashion” shoes was not simply making a strategic buy; from the CEO down Deckers is run by people who not only broke 40 minutes for 10 kilometers; in their day they broke 30 minutes.
The new owners understood the brand, and its theme, and its features beyond simply maximalism, and they remain attached (mostly) to the themes that underpin this brand.
There are now so many Hoka models I don't know them all. They've made shoes I like better than the Bondi, and I'd wear Hoka's 5th-best shoe before any other brand's best shoe because all other companies have borrowed, but not flat-out stolen, Hokas themes.
This brand has its detractors and you'll find them on our Reader Forum. Some of the complaints are silly. Some are not. Even Hoka fans have complaints. The brand has grown so fast amid changing ownership, factories, product managers, that it's no wonder that there have been snafus in sizing and in the desired versus actual ride of a shoe because a choice in midsole material. Welcome to technical running. Welcome to a 9-figure annual turnover achieved in one-fifth or one-tenth the time it takes most tech footwear companies to get there.
