Junya Watanabe's HOKA Mule Gives Link-Ups a New Meaning
Even amongst Junya Watanabe's wearable works of art, his HOKA Ora Primo collaboration stood out.
After dishing out New Balance loafers, Junya Watanabe links up with HOKA for an FW24 collab (literally). During the FW24 presentation, Junya Watanabe sent collaborative Ora Primo mules down the runway, finished with chain details.
Junya Watanabe's HOKA Ora Primo shoe comes in all-black colorway (true to the label's signature color). The interesting part about the Ora Primo collab is the absence of the shoe's normal thick elastic laces. Instead, Junya Watanabe wraps up its iteration in chain links, giving a whole new meaning to word link-up in the era of collaborations.
Regarding the rest of the shoe, Junya Watanabe's HOKA Ora Primo slip-on maintains the model's insulated padded upper and chunky eco-friendly sole. And yes, those zig-zag tabs on the toe and heel are also present and accounted for.
HOKA's Ora Primo left quite the impression when it entered the scene in 2023. For starters, the HOKA mule is certainly a looker, boasting HOKA's famous thick base and these big ropes intertwining on the upper. The Ora Primo is almost so unusual looking that people couldn't help but be intrigued by them.
As expected, the HOKA Ora Primo sold out in the blink of an eye during its launch in 2023. HOKA recently gave the people what they wanted — a restock — re-releasing the wildly cool slip-on in March 2024 (new colors included).
For Junya Watanabe's Fall/Winter 2024 womenswear presentation, the designer looked to "express the beauty of the contrast between clothes and sculptures." In turn, we were met with pieces like spiked dresses and triangular crinolines attached to cutout blazers.
Junya Watanabe is known for these kinda avant-garde-style designs, and HOKA's shoe is a rather cutting-edge design. In short, Junya Watanabe and HOKA's Ora Primo sounds like the perfect match to me.
Junya Watanabe marks the first collaboration for the HOKA Ora Primo mule, it seems. The HOKA shoe's general releases are already stirring up a buzz, so it makes you wonder about the response to a Junya Watanabe collab...and even other potential team-ups in the future.
