Hoka One’s dream team of Gretchen Weimer and Wendy Yang are back together — but this time, they’re putting their skills to work at Kizik, the originator of the hands-free shoe.

The duo worked together for seven years of their roles as global vice chairman of product and president, respectively, for the fast-growing Hoka brand. Yang stepped down last May as president of performance lifestyle at Deckers Brands, where she oversaw Hoka and Teva, while Weimer quietly left Hoka in early January.

At the top of last yr, Yang joined Kizik’s board of directors, and now, Weimer has come on board as chief merchandising officer.

At Hoka, they partnered to remodel the brand from a distinct segment cushioned running shoe to a buzzy fashion industry darling with sales of over $1 billion. Now they’re hoping to copy that success at Kizik, which currently has sales of just over $100 million. In addition they worked at Latest Balance at the identical time before they joined Hoka.

The Lindon, Utah-based Kizik is the footwear brand from HandsFree Labs Inc., a business that licenses hands-free solutions. It was founded in 2017 by entrepreneur Mike Pratt as a direct-to-consumer shoe company targeted to individuals who need assistance lacing their shoes due to disabilities, medical conditions, pregnancy or aging.

It holds the patents or the pending patents to greater than 150 hands-free technologies and because of this, Nike Inc. in November 2019 made a strategic investment and entered into an exclusive mental property licensing partnership in HandsFree Labs so it could utilize the technology in its product line, including the Go FlyEase that it introduced firstly of 2021.

Kizik also received $20 million in series B funding led by The Newcastle Network last April.

Although hands-free shoes were initially targeted to those with disabilities, they’ve since change into popular with a bigger swath of the population. Along with Nike, whose Go FlyEase was marketed as a hands-free alternative for folks holding toddlers, dog-walkers rushing to get out of the home or yogis running late for sophistication, other sports brands have embraced the trend.

Each Under Armour’s UA SlipSpeed, which is targeted to young athletes, in addition to Skechers’ Hands Free Slip-ins, which have been marketed by each Martha Stewart and Snoop Dogg, also home in on the hands-free trend.

At Kizik, Weimer shall be charged with elevating the shoe brand and making a merchandising technique to further drive sales, the corporate said. Currently, the brand offers six silhouettes in men’s and girls’s sizes and three in children’s. “The Kizik brand has a novel selling proposition that we are only tapping into, and consumers are responding,” Weimer said. “Our growth is limitless. Our industry patents are changing the way in which people experience footwear. The longer term is shiny for Kizik.”

She said that although she and Yang have had parallel profession paths over the past few years, it was actually Kizik’s chief executive officer, Monte Deere, who recruited her to hitch the brand. But having Yang as a colleague again is seen as a bonus.

“Wendy created a winning strategy at Hoka and built an incredible team that took the brand to $1 billion,” she said. And at Kizik, Weimer hopes to execute the “same playbook.”

“We see the identical opportunity here,” she said. “The brand within the trailing 12 months increased sales 70 percent and we just hit $100 million. It has interesting technology and a story that appeals to lots of people.”

The important thing to future growth, she believes, is to “understand the audience we’re targeting and construct products” to handle their needs. The indisputable fact that the brand has so few styles is “super-efficient,” but additionally leaves the door wide open to expand through recent offerings which are promoted through compelling marketing.

“Kizik was a pioneer in hands-free footwear that may address physical needs, however it’s an interesting experience for the on a regular basis consumer,” she said. “They’re easy to placed on and also you don’t need to take them off.”

The primary major move is Kizik’s entry into brick-and-mortar retailing this spring with Nordstrom. The brand’s adult and children shoes are currently being sold at Nordstrom stores in Lynnwood, Washington; Portland, Oregon; Oak Brook, Illinois; Scottsdale, Arizona, and Roseville, California, in addition to online. Models include the athletic-inspired Athens shoe with a Rabbit Foam outsole, external heel cage and four-way knit upper in addition to the Lima sneaker and the Roamer, which encompasses a Unified heel tech.

Weimer said that “out of the gate, we’ve seen great sell-throughs.”

To introduce the brand to customers, Kizik and Nordstrom have created an in-store display featuring a video demonstration of its step-in technology.

Weimer said working with Nordstrom to inform the brand’s story in a physical space is a vital tool to create awareness. That’s also the explanation that Kizik will open its first physical store in Salt Lake City at the top of next month, Weimer revealed.

Going forward, Kizik hopes to expand through each physical retail in addition to with wholesale partners, with the latter seen as key to accelerating the brand’s growth.

“I’m just super-excited to be here,” she concluded. “This brand has such great opportunities.”