London agency Otherway has designed the branding, which is intended to live between the worlds of sport and sustainability. It’s noticeably minimalist, sporting a sans serif logo and accompanying typeface, and a bolt-shaped motif that Otherway says represents the power of nature, as well as the speed and lightness of Hylo’s first shoe.

Otherway worked closely with Hylo to develop the brand – which is named after the Hylotelephium plant, a succulent more commonly known as the ‘live-forever plant’. Its stripped back look is directly linked to Hylo’s sustainable credentials.

“We had conversations early on about colour or detailing, especially around branding,” Otherway founder Jono Holt told CR. “To get that pop of colour we’d have to use an artificial dye. That extra piece of detailing needs a different supply chain. They ended up being stripped back because the design has to be simple for the supply chain to be simple, for the sustainability and responsibility of the product.

“That was a learning we’ve taken across a lot of the design and brands we work on. Just understanding the knock-on effect of a colour or detail has been quite interesting.”

According to the agency, Hylo’s focus on sustainability will extend to a rewards scheme, where customers can send in old pairs ready to be recycled into new ones. It plans to partner with young sports talent as well, to ‘rethink’ the sponsorship models sport usually relies on.

otherway.com