It's often said in fashion that it is all about timing, catching the zeitgeist just before it hits. It looks as if that has just happened at Hogan, the luxury sneaker brand.
In the past eight months, women's fashion has become obsessed with sneakers, trainers, skate shoes - urban footwear styled to ground a luxury look. Designers, fashion editors and bloggers are pounding the pavements with bright, stylish, functional designer footwear that was once the domain of such brands as Nike, Puma and Adidas.
In the mid-1980s, Hogan (launched by Tod's Group) proved it was possible to turn something as practical as a trainer into stylish and luxurious leisure footwear, using materials such as suede and patent leather, and a clever colour palette. Building on that success, Hogan ventured beyond footwear, adding jackets and blousons as accessories.
Now, as fashion labels started to reappropriate trainers, Hogan wanted to develop clothing to accompany its footwear, so Andrea Della Valle, brother of group president Diego Della Valle, hired Simon Holloway to design an upscale ready-to-wear line and accessories for men.
His menswear debut in January received such positive feedback that he suddenly found he had a month to design a women's collection. The first of those designs (men's and women's) have just arrived in Hogan's Elements store; his footwear is available at its Pacific Place, Harbour City and Elements stores.
"I think Hogan should be about unpretentious design. I want to bring in a little sexier mood and keep it young," says Holloway, explaining his plans for the collection. "If you look at the group, there is the Tod's collection, which is much more classic, while I think Hogan has a vibe that is quite rebellious. I wanted to play around with that a bit."