Industry: Trail running
Hoka sets sights on UK
Hoka One One's new UK agent is looking for retailers with the right background in outdoor running to provide the brand with growth opportunities
H
oka One One is a relative newcomer to the UK trail running shoe market. It is the brainchild of Frenchmen Jean- Luc Diard and Nicolas Mermoud, both gravity sports enthusiasts whose trail running experiences took them across the globe.
Both have previous exposure to the outside industry having worked with Salomon where they learnt the importance of trail running on shoe design, and used this background to launch Hoka One One, which translates from Maori to 'time to fly down the mountain', in France in 2009.
Diard says: "When we speak about running we usually speak about running on flat, smooth terrain and this has been analysed quite extensively.
"But when we speak about trail running it is all about going up and down on very uneven and challenging surfaces and this changes many aspects of design."
This ideology has led Hoka One One to introduce the Mafate running shoe, which is available in a number of styles and colours for both men and women.
The Mafate shoe has been designed to include oversized cushioning both in the rear and front part of the shoe to adapt to the huge pressure
similar
trends such as oversized skis, which Diard says brings end users a number of benefits. “Discussions with outdoor enthusiasts confirmed that actually the majority of trail runners feared going downhill, to some extent, as they disliked the shocks to the knees, to the back, getting stiff legs due to muscle contraction, and in addition the risks inherent in losing your grip or twisting an ankle," Diard says.
"This discussion influenced Hoka to consider the bottom unit of the shoe not in a traditional way but as a real dynamic interface between the foot and the ground."
Hoka One One is now working to launch the Mafate shoe range into the UK properly, as well as the rest of its range.
It has appointed Sidas UK as the agent to handle the brand in the UK. Sidas director Steve Couper says: “We want to first build up a profile amongst core markets, whilst the Mafate has benefits for runners of all types, we need to focus
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exerted when going downhill. This is coupled with an oversized continuous contact surface on the ground to give a stable platform, and provide better grip and equalise pressure. The rockering profile has also been tailored, starting from the middle of the foot to give an easy, dynamic forward-rolling motion that helps create a natural transfer of energy. Mafate design principles take a lead from others that have defined
our distribution and marketing initially on the trail running market.
"These shoes perform seriously well but look decidedly unconventional; it is critical that we work hard to build credibility in these early stages.”
The Mafate in particular has already gained a degree of global credibility following recent athlete announcements. Ulrich and Anne-Marie Gross finished as first place male and female respectively, whilst wearing Hoka, in Italy’s Il Tor de Geants race, whilst US ultra runner Karl Meltzer recently completed a 2000-plus mile run across the American southwest wearing a pair of Hoka Mafates.
Couper says: “The winning spirit of athletes using Hoka shoes is fantastic. In the UK we are looking for retail partners with that same spirit. "Retailers who understand running, understand the outdoors and most of all appreciate good quality fitting. These are the retailers we are looking for”.
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