HOKA’s Anacapa 2 Freedom sneaker epitomizes a contrast at the shoe company’s core: HOKA makes some of the nicest meanest-looking running shoes in the biz.
The Anacapa 2 Freedom is a great example, because it just looks so darn ornery in its all-black colorway.
Yellow Vibram branding is the sole interruption across this tough trail shoe’s otherwise monochrome make, yielding an especially low-key HOKA sneaker amped up by a tall ankle opening, meaty upper, and jagged Megagrip sole unit that’s designed specifically to tear up trails.
And, yet, the Anacapa 2 Freedom hides a bashful surprise.
Despite that impressively aggro facade and the laces that wrap its forefoot, this shoe is secretly a slip-on sneaker.
That oversized ankle detail? Actually an intelligently designed feature intended to “flex and spring back for easy entry,” according to HOKA’s website, where the Anacapa 2 Freedom sells for $155 (and is available in admittedly more ordinary colorways).
In essence, you never have to untie this shoe’s laces — simply step in and out.
Pretty cool feature, and one that likely took ample R&D to find the right balance between heel that allows easy-off while also securing the foot during strolls.
HOKA has really mastered this sort of real-world innovation in the past year, issuing shoes that similarly eschew laces or occupy a separate realm of slip-on design. Some of its recent best-sellers have been backless, even.
But never before has HOKA dabbled so directly in shoes that mix laces and slip-on ease, with the result hitting primarily because HOKA is just so darn good at that aesthetic balance. This is how you do it all.