Exclusive: Hoka Just Blessed This Buzzy Menswear Label With Its First-Ever Sneaker Collab
StyleDesigner Spencer Badu’s electric spin on the Hoka Elevon X is an ode to his Ghanaian roots.By David StolMay 9, 2025Courtesy of HokaSave this storySaveSave this storySaveAll products featured on GQ are independently selected by our editors. However, we may receive compensation from retailers and/or from purchases of products through these links.For independent clothing designers, getting your first sneaker collab has become something of a coming-of-age ritual. If you freak it—like, say, Grace Wales Bonner did with her Adidas debut—the drop has the potential to supercharge your stature and open the door to even greater opportunities. And if it flops? Well…let’s just say it’s best not to flop.Now entering the fray: Toronto menswear maestro Spencer Badu, whose eponymous label has teamed up with Hoka to reimagine the running specialist’s puffy-soled Elevon X. “This has definitely been a dream of mine,” Badu tells GQ. “I’ve always thought about what that first shoe for us could look like. I think we’ve mastered clothes at this point. So the next thing, naturally, felt like footwear.”The shoe is riddled with details that speak to Badu’s Ghanaian roots: The striking yellow and black is a nod to Ghana’s flag; a small piece of hardware in the shape of a cowrie shell—a Ghanaian symbol of wealth—sits at the tongue; and a heatmap on the footbed pays homage to his brand’s longtime design codes. To give context and highlight the career milestone, Badu and Hoka produced a short film that captures the inspiration for the design, filmed across Toronto and Ghana.Badu often references his personal life in his work, which makes his garments feel “much more organic,” he says. “So once I [began] building the narrative for the shoe, it felt only right to go back [to Ghana], to invest in creatives there to produce it. And it was surreal to be back there shooting. It felt right to give the shoe context, the same way I create my collections.”The collaboration came about after Thomas Cykana, who oversees partnerships at Hoka, stumbled upon Badu’s work and shot him a cold DM in February 2023. From there, over the course of several fashion week linkups in cities across the globe, Badu’s vision for the sneaker slowly came into focus. “I think just the shape really complemented his brand codes,” Cykana says of the Elevon X. “It was easy once we found that shoe to give him the creative autonomy to add materials, colors, and obviously those ornamental details to make the shoe his own.”“Hoka really gave me free rein to do my thing,” Badu says. “It was like, how can we just make it feel as Spencer as possible?” The result is the rare performance running silhouette revved up with the brash, electric vibes necessary to cut through all the noise of the sneaker-hype economy. In other words: Badu freaked it. And in addition to all the buzz he’s already created on his own—with his clothes popping up on the likes of Kendrick Lamar and A$AP Rocky—this Hoka collab might just be the key to taking his label to the next level.The Spencer Badu x Hoka Elevon X will release via SpencerBadu.com on May 15, with an additional drop through Hoka.com and select retailers on May 16.
All products featured on GQ are independently selected by our editors. However, we may receive compensation from retailers and/or from purchases of products through these links.
For independent clothing designers, getting your first sneaker collab has become something of a coming-of-age ritual. If you freak it—like, say, Grace Wales Bonner did with her Adidas debut—the drop has the potential to supercharge your stature and open the door to even greater opportunities. And if it flops? Well…let’s just say it’s best not to flop.
Now entering the fray: Toronto menswear maestro Spencer Badu, whose eponymous label has teamed up with Hoka to reimagine the running specialist’s puffy-soled Elevon X. “This has definitely been a dream of mine,” Badu tells GQ. “I’ve always thought about what that first shoe for us could look like. I think we’ve mastered clothes at this point. So the next thing, naturally, felt like footwear.”
The shoe is riddled with details that speak to Badu’s Ghanaian roots: The striking yellow and black is a nod to Ghana’s flag; a small piece of hardware in the shape of a cowrie shell—a Ghanaian symbol of wealth—sits at the tongue; and a heatmap on the footbed pays homage to his brand’s longtime design codes. To give context and highlight the career milestone, Badu and Hoka produced a short film that captures the inspiration for the design, filmed across Toronto and Ghana.
Badu often references his personal life in his work, which makes his garments feel “much more organic,” he says. “So once I [began] building the narrative for the shoe, it felt only right to go back [to Ghana], to invest in creatives there to produce it. And it was surreal to be back there shooting. It felt right to give the shoe context, the same way I create my collections.”
The collaboration came about after Thomas Cykana, who oversees partnerships at Hoka, stumbled upon Badu’s work and shot him a cold DM in February 2023. From there, over the course of several fashion week linkups in cities across the globe, Badu’s vision for the sneaker slowly came into focus. “I think just the shape really complemented his brand codes,” Cykana says of the Elevon X. “It was easy once we found that shoe to give him the creative autonomy to add materials, colors, and obviously those ornamental details to make the shoe his own.”
“Hoka really gave me free rein to do my thing,” Badu says. “It was like, how can we just make it feel as Spencer as possible?” The result is the rare performance running silhouette revved up with the brash, electric vibes necessary to cut through all the noise of the sneaker-hype economy. In other words: Badu freaked it. And in addition to all the buzz he’s already created on his own—with his clothes popping up on the likes of Kendrick Lamar and A$AP Rocky—this Hoka collab might just be the key to taking his label to the next level.
The Spencer Badu x Hoka Elevon X will release via SpencerBadu.com on May 15, with an additional drop through Hoka.com and select retailers on May 16.
