ROA

Purveyor of street-leaning technical footwear, Italian label ROA explores the territory between aesthetic and practicality. Characterized by an uncompromising commitment to craftsmanship and selecting the highest quality materials, ROA’s output is engineered for mountain landscapes yet maintains a proximity to urban contexts, exhibiting a hybridity in conversation with the ever-blurring divide between performance-based design and artistic expression. Underlining the luxury inherent in a piece of footwear crafted to effortlessly tread a maximal range of terrains, ROA’s highly stylized design ethic demonstrates a keen awareness of the visual factors that have occasioned hiking gear’s crossover appeal. Chunky, treaded Vibram soles bespeak solid functionality, while durable mesh and kudu leather uppers juxtapose sleek rubber accents, resulting in silhouettes that enhance a minimalist framework within the textural depth of technical footwear. Predominantly monochromatic colorways create an appealingly glacial atmosphere, with all-white variations lending crispness to typically rugged style of footwear. Treated with water-repellent finishes and instilled with quick-drying technology, ROA’s streamlined selection of women’s boots and sneakers is hybridized footwear at its most resilient.