Hoka

Hoka was founded in 2009 in Annecy, France by French ultrarunners Nicolas Mermoud and Jean-Luc Diard as a specialist running-footwear brand specifically focused on what the founders described as 'a deliberately-maximally-cushioned ultrarunning-engineered footwear vocabulary.' Hoka introduced the iconic maximally-cushioned platform (deliberately oversized midsoles delivering significantly more impact-absorption than traditional running shoes) at a time when the broader running-industry was moving toward minimalist construction — making Hoka a deliberately-counter-cyclical proposition that became globally dominant by the late 2010s. The Hoka vocabulary settled around several specific products: the iconic Hoka Bondi maximally-cushioned road-running shoe (the brand's defining road-running product since 2011), the Hoka Clifton neutral-cushioned road-running shoe programme (a defining lighter-cushioned variant), the Hoka Speedgoat trail-running shoe programme (named for ultrarunner Karl Meltzer), the Hoka Mafate Speed mountain-running shoe, the Hoka Bondi 8 deliberately-aesthetic-revival walking-shoe product, and a colour palette anchored to washed-black, washed-navy, military-olive, oxblood, ecru, plus the brand's recurring use of saturated red, electric-blue, butter-yellow, and the iconic 2010s-French-ultrarunning-aesthetic accent combinations. The brand is owned by Deckers Brands (NYSE: DECK), the publicly-listed American footwear conglomerate that also owns UGG, Teva, Sanuk, and Koolaburra (Deckers acquired Hoka in 2013). Hoka has been one of the fastest-growing footwear brands globally in the post-2018 era, with annual revenue exceeding $1.4 billion by 2023. Hoka operates approximately 100 retail flagship stores globally — anchored to the broader US, France, Japan, and the broader running-specialty-and-streetwear-revival retailer network. The brand has done extensive contemporary collaborations including Hoka × CASABLANCA, Hoka × Engineered Garments, Hoka × HAVEN, Hoka × ENGINEERED GARMENTS, and the broader 2010s-aesthetic-revival collaboration partners.