OluKai Taking Aloha Spirit Beyond Sandals, Growing Slippers, Sneakers And Chukkas
That sensation of stepping barefoot in wet sand often comes with a variety of feelings. But at OluKai, they’ve taken that sensation and made it the backbone of footwear creation, building sandals and a range of closed-toe styles from a “wet-sand principle.”
“You might look at a three-point sandal as a simple piece of footwear, but OluKai has taken a simple piece of footwear and brought true craftsmanship and true footwear-building properties to it to make it a crafted product,” says Blaine Conrad, OluKai vice president of product. “We are building it properly and telling deep stories, making it true and meaningful.”
OluKai hasn’t stopped at sandals. While known, especially in Hawaii and at specialty surf shops the world over, for its mix of men’s and women’s sandals that it has created since 2006, the brand that embraces all things Hawaii — OluKai means “comfortable ocean” in Hawaiian — has expanded into slippers, sneakers and now a mixture of footwear styles, including new chukka-style boots available this fall.
“We are getting more people to know our brand and they come to our brand through our most popular styles,” Conrad says. “We have this great base of product and we are extending out in areas like slippers and an expanded sneaker range with more contemporary designs.”
As OluKai continues to grow, it retains its popularity in outdoor specialty shops and embraces its core business in Hawaii and the coastal areas of California, Florida and the southeast. But OluKai has seen recent growth from New England to Texas to the Midwest. “
Throughout the advancement, OluKai continues to embrace all things Hawaiian culture. “When we create new product, we always start with our ocean lifestyle positioning and those attributes,” says Juliana Sanfelici, senior women’s footwear designer. All OluKai product contains a barefoot sensibility to feel seamless and soft against a foot, especially when worn without socks. The ocean lifestyle design includes an easy-on, easy-off construction that has most closed-toe and slipper products featuring a drop-in heel design that allows the heel to fold down and be stepped on, as is common in Hawaiian culture. This allows a traditional closed-toe style to be worn akin to a slipper or sandal.
At this point, OluKai sales have evolved to 50 percent sandal and 50 percent closed-toe, currently growing the closed-toe business simply because of new opportunities.
“We started with sandals and that is our first-born product and where we learned a lot about what we call the wet-sand principle,” Sanfelici says. “It started from a sandal and bringing the sensation of walking in firm, wet sand on the beach. We want to bring that to all our closed-toe shoes as well.”
This barefoot sensibility that OluKai talks about is the idea that they minimize seams on the inside and use soft materials that enhance breathability. The underfoot contours of the products mimic wet sand by providing a contour featuring cushioning, yet supportive under the arch while cupping the heel slightly for stability and support. Wet sand also allows toes to play out in a natural manner.
The most popular OluKai product in both men’s and women’s is the Ohana sandal. Ohana means family in Hawaiian and the construction is one of the simplest the brand has. While the Ohana leads the Makai segment of the brand, meaning water-facing, the mountain-facing line, Mauka, features the ever-popular Mea Ola sandal made with full-grain leather, straps made of leather and a footbed wrapped in leather.
“Ocean comfort is at the core of everything we do,” Sanfelici says. “After the comfort is the ocean lifestyle and the sensibility that people really relate to because they can relax with premium, very laid-back aesthetics, which are sophisticated at the same time.”
OluKai strives to bring the “Aloha spirit” and a sense of Hawaii to every product, whether if someone slides on a pair of sandals in California, sneakers in New York City or chukkas in Kansas City. That’s why the OluKai designs infuse so much Hawaiian feel.
Take the Mea Ola for example, the popular leather sandal. Hand-stitching over the strap is a Hawaiian tradition and mimics canoe creation, while the graphic on the footbed of an octopus comes from Polynesian culture. “As you start to look closer, you can learn about the legends of Hawaiian culture and those surrounding that animal,” Sanfelici says. “Those hand stitches are inspired by the stitches holding a canoe together. There is a first level that gives you an idea and there is always more digging to be done. We try to infuse all of our footwear with some hidden details that you can discover as you look closer.” Other sandals include coloring inspired from traditional canoes, cultural tiki artwork or designs reminiscent of popular surfing communities.
Product creation comes both from market demand and Hawaiian-inspired needs. Sometimes, Sanfelici says, OluKai designers see a market opportunity and create product full of Hawaiian inspiration to make it unique to OluKai. Other times, while in Hawaii, they see opportunities to create footwear perfect for a specific activity.
The most popular closed-toe versions include the men’s Nohea Moku, a textile Makai — toward the water — style that embraces the idea of barefoot comfort. The Pehuea, the most popular closed-toe offering for women, is a slip-on breathable textile that embraces the easy-on, easy-off wear. Both have the drop-in, collapsed heel. Closed-toe OluKai product comes with a removable sockliner.
As the closed-toe lines continues to grow in both scope and popularity, OluKai has expanded on its sneaker and lifestyle offerings, including a line of slippers with a drop-in heel with shearling, full-grain leather, hand-stitching and rubber outsoles to allow the product to go outside.
Sanfelici says Hawaii has such a rich culture and wonderful people that she loves honoring them with product that tells their story. “Everything we do is to celebrate Hawaiian culture, to support initiatives on the island,” she says, alluding to the long history of OluKai funding charitable efforts on the island that support both people and traditional customs.
The fall 2019 collection now features the Hawai’iloa Collection inspired by a canoe built in Hawaii using traditional Polynesian methods. “We wanted to honor that canoe,” Sanfelici says, “it is a very rich story.” The new collection includes a boot and sandal for men and women infused with details and functionality inspired by that canoe, from stitch patterns to rope accents. The chukka boot still embraces the easy-on, easy-off and the women’s version, similar to a Chelsea style with wool lining, couples with the men’s with a wool-lining and water-repellent elastic laces, blending the comfortable ocean feel of OluKai with fall styling.
OluKai wants to bring the wet-sand principle and the Aloha spirit to every product, whether fall-styled chukkas or signature sandals, leading to the ever-growing reach of Hawaii-inspired OluKai.