There's always room in my wardrobe for another sneaker. I have a sneaker I can wear to work. I have a sneaker specifically for going to bars, clubs, and concerts where being hot is important, but the possibility of getting your toes stomped by fellow dancers is high. I have a sneaker for hiking and another for running. But I've never had a sneaker for prancing around town with my dog and a seasonal latté in hand, until Reformation's collaboration with HOKA dropped online and in select Reformation stores today, Sept. 26.
HOKA x Reformation is a limited edition collection that reimagines HOKA's Mach 6 sneaker in three fresh colors crafted with Reformation's style and sustainability ethos in mind. The result is a shoe that loves to be worn with a skirt or a dress as much as a pair of leggings—a shoe for "somewhat sporty girls." And I should know: I've been test-driving a pair for two weeks now.
Reformation's chief innovation officer, Alison Melville, started working on the collaboration a year and a half ago—around the dawn of the naked shoe trend that's now running rampant on the Spring 2025 runways at Brandon Maxwell, Alaïa, and Tibi. The inspiration can be seen in the woven organic cotton canvas that graces the Mach 6 LS Crochet, which comes in either a peaches-and-cream color called "Eggnog/Shortbread" or a cloud-like color with baby blue laces called "Flint Gray/Rainy Day."
"When we started working on this project, we knew that this kind of crochet, open-knit mesh trend was coming," Melville says. "And we've seen it obviously all summer long, with the huge trend of see-through mesh shoes—and apparel, to be honest—that's now segueing into fall."
My favorite of the collection's three pieces is a burgundy jacquard knit sneaker called the Mach 6 LS Monogram, that represents Reformation's first attempt to turn their new logo into a print. The hue also happens to align perfectly with fall 2024's next big color trend: mulled wine.
"The jacquard is something that we've been wanting to try. We've been playing with the idea of a logo repeat or a logo print for a bit," Melville says. When the graphic, interwoven "R" design is placed into a repeating pattern as it is on the sneaker, she says, "It becomes almost abstract."
The HOKA x Reformation Mach 6 LS doesn't bill itself as a hardcore running shoe, but make no mistake: You can absolutely take these for a jog. I found them super bouncy and propellant on pavement at the park.
"The Mach 6 LS maintains the same underfoot experience as the standard Mach 6, so it offers the same lightweight, responsive ride that runners and everyday athletes have come to expect," explains Travis Wiseman, director of product for lifestyle footwear at HOKA. "What sets this version apart is the design."
In other words, the sneaker is a true marriage of style and performance. And who better to embody that marriage than prancercise legend Joanna Rohrback, whose hatred of boring gym routines led her to develop a viral fitness routine that entails elegantly galloping in fabulous outfits?
"She really does march to the beat of her own drum and has this insouciance that reflects Reformation's tongue-in-cheek, insouciant brand voice," Melville says of naming Rohrback the face of HOKA x Reformation's campaign. "Inventing your own exercise and kind of living your life dancing and not caring what anyone else thinks felt very, very Ref for us."
Most importantly, HOKA x Reformation presents the perfect opportunity to experiment with wrong shoe theory: a term invented by stylist Alison Bornstein to describe the exquisite way a shoe can elevate an outfit by throwing it slightly off-kilter. Picture knee-high engineer boots worn with a pair of bloomers, for instance, or sneakers with a ruffled skirt. Alternatively, Melville suggested playing into the English countryside trend with the Mach 6 LS.
"If you want to go more on the fashion end of things, I think going the preppy chic route and really embracing a bubble skirt or a pleated skirt with [one of] those oversized polos," she recommends. "Turning it into a preppy-chic, kind of tongue-in-cheek sporty look is really cool."
Melville also pointed to shorter knit dresses as a more straightforward styling option.
"But really, the whole idea is these can take you anywhere," she concludes. Having worn my pair all over New York for the past two weeks, I can't help but agree.
