Ready for the wild: precision meets the unpredictable in Los York’s campaign for HOKA’s Mafate X

HOKA’s Mafate X is a beast of a shoe. Meant for trail running and venturing into uncharted territories, it’s built to handle the elements, the elevation, and the unknown. For its launch, Mafate X needed a campaign that could match its energy, so HOKA collaborated with Los Angeles-based creative company Los York to bring one to life. The rough terrains of unmapped trails – where the shoe promises to thrive – became a conceptual jumping off point for the campaign. “The campaign was rooted in the rugged, remote landscapes of South Africa, and we wanted a system that felt like it belonged there. The rawness of trail running, the dirt, the altitude, and the chaos of the elements inspired us to create a visual world that could hold that energy without getting messy,” Creative Director Michael Mavian tells us. “Our research spanned everything from topographical mapping to archival outdoor gear manuals. We studied how information is layered and organised on race bibs, GPS interfaces, and geological maps and translated that into a design language that felt both visceral and precise.” The team knew they wanted to create a visual conversation, and a point of tension between the terrain and the graphic language. Where the trails and the paths are unpredictable, the design system is precise, deliberate and clean. “Every graphic element, from typography to grid to linework, was designed to feel purposeful. That’s what gives the system its tension,” says Mavian. This was a tight rope to walk, because while the graphic voice of the campaign had to complement the visuals of the remote terrain and its inherent grit and texture, it also had to bring in a sense of cohesion to the overall brand, creating a stable, logical foundation for the campaign to rest on.