Few things hang over me like a storm cloud quite as much as my dislike for wearing athletic shoes when I’m not actually being athletic. A casual sneaker just feels wrong. Shlubby, even. I look down, and it's as if my own two feet have been replaced by an imposter.

So imagine my surprise when, late one evening during my online shopping excursions, I came across a shoe that not only looked good, but actually compelled me to search for it secondhand. 

Somehow even more shocking? It was made by On, the Swiss shoe brand with the distinctive “CloudTec” hollow-sole cushioning I’d come to associate with fanny-packed fathers checking their step count or rich art collectors cutting a path through busy art fairs, their honeycomb heels contrasting with their three-piece suits. 

The shoe in question wasn’t just any old On; it was the Cloudventure Peak PAF in Espresso, a product of an ongoing partnership between On and the Korean streetwear brand Post Archive Faction that began in 2024. Released as part of the pair’s CURRENT FORM 2.0+ capsule, which also featured a road-running Cloudmonster 2 silhouette and a range of technical gear, the Cloudventure Peak sneaker had the exact kind of lowkey silhouette I didn’t realize On was capable of. 

Its slanted, asymmetrical laces, lotus-stem-inspired skeleton, and two-tone mesh upper delivered a direct hit of serotonin to my lizard brain; PAF even managed to make the standard CloudTec-cushioned sole look cool rather than cringe. But as with everything else released in the capsule, sneakerheads pounced on the PAF and sold everything out upon drop. I can’t justify tossing resellers hundreds to secure the sneaker that got away. 

After a brief bout of disappointment, god’s light shone directly onto a post uploaded by PAF last week teasing a shoe not just on par with the Cloudventure, but miles better; the pair’s Cloudboom Next is a sleek continuation of PAF’s off-kilter take on On’s silhouette, but comes with a thick stacked sole that almost entire replaces the hollow look that outs you as an On wearer from a mile away. 

Alongside this model, On’s partnership with PAF will conclude with one final silhouette, the CloudSoma, closing out a trilogy of collabs the pair began two years ago. Where the Cloudboom goes understated with lotus petal-like paneling, the CloudSoma goes GORPy; the off-road model bridges PAF’s signature web-like overlay with On’s techy construction, paired with a rugged sole that looks made for a hiking trail. It's also not quite as good as the Cloudboom, though it's still more palatable than the average On (at least to my eyes).

The CloudSoma is set for release in mid-July, while my personal fave, the Cloudboom, has no set release date I can find beyond the vagueness of “early 2026,” as reported when it was previewed at Paris Fashion Week last year. Both models prove that with the right alchemy—aka the designers behind an achingly cool Korean fashion brand— On can turn out a great-looking set of shoes. Whenever, wherever, my precious Cloudboom comes out, trust that I will rectify my wrongs and finally hop on board On’s hype train.

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