Inside Altra’s Collaboration Strategy — Starting With Its Roa Partnership
Altra is not a frequent collaborator. So when the performance-focused brand works closely with another company, the result is going to stand out.
Available now is Altra’s collaborative Timp 5 GTX trail running shoe with Roa, an Italian footwear and apparel brand with a focus on hiking that doesn’t skimp on style.
“We were able to stay grounded in performance, take one of our pinnacle franchise styles and put more of a fashion edge onto it, which is great,” Altra global brand president Jen McLaren told FN. “I think it’s going to do great things, opening up the brand to new consumers, but also really speak to our core consumers who love us for who we are.”
The look, according to Altra, merges “performance engineering with understated design” and “challenges preconceptions about how technical footwear should look and perform.” It is dressed in deep earth tones, which Altra stated were pulled “directly from alpine soil studies,” and applied using Roa’s signature blocking technique.
“We find systems of and for design in nature,” Roa creative director Patrick Stangbye said in a statement. “When you spend enough time in the mountains, these muted tones become your visual language.”
In terms of tech, the look features Invisible Fit waterproof membranes from Gore-Tex (marking the first time Roa has worked with the company), as well as Vibram for its Megagrip outsoles. It is also built with Altra’s anatomical FootShape design, Ego Max midsoles and Zero Drop platform.
The Roa x Altra Timp 5 GTX is available now via Altrarunning.com in both men’s and women’s sizing and retails for $195. What’s more, the collaboration will be sold at fashion-focused retailers Ssense, Browns, Luisaviaroma and more, introducing the brand to the channel.
Collaboration Strategy
Though Altra’s name is well-known among runners on the trails and the road, president Jen McLaren is aware of the benefits of collaboration.
“Our awareness is still fairly low as a challenger brand in the space, so this really allows us to reach new consumers and be able to tell our story to them,” said McLaren. “It also gives our core consumers something that they’ve been wanting from the brand, too, because it has a really cool style to it.”
The benefits of collaboration became realized in June when the Roa x Altra Timp 5 GTX was revealed during Paris Fashion Week, creating a buzz around the shoe and an anticipation for its release.
McLaren labeled this Altra’s “most significant collaboration to date.”
“We already look different, and what we were searching for when we started to go down this road was a partner that had both similar values to our brand and a similar mindset,” McLaren said. “They come at the outdoors from a fashion standpoint. People want to look good as they’re getting outside, so it’s a bit of a different take on [the Timp 5 GTX]. That’s really what we were hoping to achieve with Roa.”
Potential collaboration partners should expect a similar approach if interested in working together.
“We want brand partners that play in more of that lifestyle design space, but are also really looking for the performance angle. It will always lead through the lens of performance, but then give us something that may push it further into fashion, a combination of performance and lifestyle,” McLaren said. “Also, what does the brand stand for? What are their values? Getting outside has to be part of it, because our brand mantra is to get outside and stay out there. We want it to fit nicely from a brand standpoint.”
While Altra’s collaboration with Roa is here, images of another Timp silhouette with And Wander said to be released in 2025 have surfaced in recent months. But don’t expect to see much more than that.
“We’re going to be selective. You’re not going to see a lot of huge volume of collaborations,” McLaren said. “We’re going to be really thoughtful and strategic about who those partners are so that when consumers see it, they’re like, ‘Of course that makes sense.'”
Though sparse on details, McLaren confirmed Altra has “some things in the works” when it comes to collaborations, specifically for the first half of 2025.
About the Author
Peter Verry is the Senior News and Features Editor for Athletic and Outdoor at Footwear News. He oversees coverage of the two fast-paced and ultracompetitive markets, which includes conducting in-depth interviews with industry leaders and writing stories on sneakers and outdoor shoes. He is a lifelong sneaker addict (and shares his newest purchases via @peterverry on Instagram) and spends most of his free time on a trail. He holds an M.A. in journalism from Hofstra University and can be reached at peter.verry@footwearnews.com.