In First Major Interview, Hoka President Robin Green Talks Fueling Brand Heat, International Growth + More

How do you keep a hot brand hot? That’s no small feat, but footwear industry veteran Robin Green is up to the task.

When Green joined the Deckers Brands-owned Hoka in February as president, she was tasked with expanding the brand’s relationship with consumers and athletes — and accelerating the product innovation pipeline.

“What’s been amazing about this experience so far has been connecting with the Hoka team, the employees within the organization, the leadership across Deckers and seeing how the brand connects with people on such a personal level,” Green told FN in early October. “The stories and emails we get from consumers are inspiring. This brand has really changed some people’s lives.”

The numbers tell the story. For several quarters, Hoka has been steadily increasing its market share in the competitive athletic footwear market. Hoka wrapped up fiscal 2024 earnings in May with net sales of $1.807 billion, a 27.9 percent increase from $1.413 billion in 2023. And in its most recent earnings report in October, momentum continued as the brand reported net sales of $570.9 million for the second quarter of fiscal 2025. That’s up 34.7 percent from $424 million in the year-ago period.

Wall Street is confident Hoka’s winning streak will remain a top driver for Deckers’ overall business.

“There continues to be significant growth avenues within the sporting goods [channel], among better independents — and, carefully, within athletic specialty distribution channels. Further, the international opportunities remain robust,” Williams Trading analyst Sam Poser wrote in a note last month.

Green, who most recently spent 17 years at Nike, understands the challenges that can arise with rapid expansion.

“Sometimes growth can overshadow that important relationship with the consumer and with the community,” she said. “We always want to be a brand that welcomes everybody. So that’s something I want to stay on top of, making sure … we always stay humble.”

Strengthening Wholesale

On the company’s first-quarter earnings call in July, Deckers Brands’ president and chief executive officer Stefano Caroti dubbed fiscal 2025 “a year of wholesale growth” for Hoka, adding that the star running brand is seeing an expansion of both shelf space and new doors within the segment this year.

Caroti also noted on the call that some of the retailers expanding Hoka distribution are Dick’s Sporting Goods, Foot Locker, Intersport in Europe, Top Sport in China, Sport Chek in Canada and JD Sports in the U.S., Europe and Asia.

This emphasis on wholesale growth was visible in the second quarter of fiscal 2025, with Hoka bringing in $362 million in sales in the business segment, a 37.7 percent increase from the same time last year.

Green — who had a front-row view of Nike’s wholesale missteps — sees retail partners as the “absolute center” of the business strategy. “We have incredible partners in terms of positioning and authenticating our brand across different channels. [In the future], they will play an important role in terms of how we grow Hoka, both in the U.S. and internationally,” Green said.

Hoka’s core run specialty business is also central to the company’s overall strategy.

“We have established credibility in a really personal way,” Green noted. “Whether it’s through activations at a community level, or how we look to enhance our storytelling and innovation launches going forward, [these retailers] play a critical role in that mix.”

Looking forward, both larger retailers and specialty accounts are equally important to Hoka’s success, Green insisted.

“I wouldn’t say that one is equal or less than the other. It’s just the relationship and engagement models are different. How we activate from a community and in-store standpoint is different between a run specialty account and a Dick’s Sporting Goods, as an example. Both play important roles in terms of allowing us to reach a broader range of consumer and get the product on the feet of people in an authentic way.”

The Global Agenda

In October 2023, Hoka planted its flag in Europe with its first boutique in London’s Covent Garden neighborhood. At the time of the opening, Caroti said in a statement that London is “arguably the most influential athletic lifestyle footwear market in the world” and is a “critically important market” for the brand.

In May, Hoka followed up its London success with a new store in Paris ahead of the Olympic Games, which drove major awareness in both cities, according to Dave Powers, the then-president and CEO of Deckers Brands.

“Global consumers who identify as runners remain our highest awareness group and continue to see strong increases, but we are also seeing really powerful growth among consumers who are more fitness oriented,” the now-retired Powers said in May. “While Hoka is increasing its awareness across all age groups, growth is strongest among 18- to 34-year-olds globally with brand awareness among this influential age group nearly doubling year-over-year.”

Expect to see more stores like the ones in London and Paris as Hoka charts its path abroad. Green said that both Europe and Asia will play an important role in this next chapter of growth.

“We see a lot of upsides in these markets. The brand awareness is growing incredibly fast. We’re seeing a lot of exciting adoption on both fronts. So for the next couple years, international is where we’ll be looking to put a lot of focus and energy,” Green said.

One of the biggest lessons learned so far? Don’t be afraid to build out a flagship-size footprint where needed.

“The appetite for the brand is so high that our stores are all beating plan,” Green said. “Initially, we wanted to be strategic and not go too big too soon. But what we’re finding is the consumer interest in adopting the brand is moving so fast that we, in theory, could potentially look at some slightly larger spaces that allow for higher sales velocity, more product in-store and potential category expansion within the stores.”

What’s Next

Turning to the future, Green said there is a lot about Hoka that she hopes stays exactly the same.

“At the same time, we will continue to ‘zig’ when the industry ‘zags’ and do something completely different than people expect from us,” she said.

But one thing is clear: Hoka will continue to be itself.

“You don’t have to be an elite athlete, you don’t have to be a certain body type or fit into a specific mold. It really is a brand where everybody feels welcome to bring their most authentic self — whether you’re a walker or a runner or a hiker,” Green said. “We welcome everybody. And that just opens the door for people to feel like they can try something new.”

Looking ahead, Green is excited for the places Hoka will go. “We have an incredible runway ahead of us. We’re all extremely energized around where the brand is currently positioned, and where the brand is headed,” she said.