Cleveland Cavaliers forward Isaac Okoro is thriving in his expanded role with the team and making even larger moves off the court. The 2020 first-round select of Auburn recently partnered with HOLO Footwear in an equity deal to release a signature sneaker called the IO:01 and an accompanying apparel line. Perhaps more importantly, he is also part owner of the corporate.

Okoro said he first heard about HOLO in late October 2023 through his agent. As he began researching the corporate, he became more intrigued. Okoro flew to Portland, Oregon, met with the HOLO team to find out about their backgrounds and realized that all of them had a similar upbringing. When the shoe company presented the contract, the choice to sign was easy.

“I wanted to be part of a company that wanted me,” Okoro said. “(HOLO) told me that from the beginning.” He was also encouraged by the concept of ​​constructing something from scratch. To reach the highest, you may have to start from the underside, he said. “Me and HOLO, like we each start from the underside. (They) saw me. This process and constructing it together shall be a lot fun.

HOLO and Okoro’s partnership means he is essential to the corporate as an athlete and investor.

“I think a lot of companies are abandoning the language of equity right now because it sounds good,” said Daveed Cohen, an agent at Young Money APAA Sports who leads the HOLO brand strategy in social media, content creation and community engagement.

The Atlanta-born Hooper said completing the equity deal was a learning experience that he appreciated.

“It’s quite the right approach to athletes these days,” he said. “But when you present a story where an athlete has equity, what do you actually do with it?”

As a part of HOLO Footwear’s basketball priority, Okoro participates in all the pieces from footwear design and testing to social media marketing for yet-to-be-released sneakers. It’s a two-way working relationship between him and the corporate’s founders, Rommel Vega and Yuri Rodriguez.

“That means constant communication, man,” Vega said. During the Zoom interview, he held up his phone to show how often he and Okoro communicate. The text message thread shows the 2 men’s almost each day conversations. What about Okoro’s role in the corporate?

“He will attend board meetings and interact with other investors. Having equity means you may have the best to vote. Voting rights mean we will move together or not move in any respect,” Vega said.

HOLO Footwear was founded in 2020. The company’s goal is to create durable and inexpensive sneakers. Her goal is to create great shoes that do not break the bank. HOLO understands that cheaper performance shoes used to be more common, but now seem rare.

“We live in a completely different world. I don’t know if you have to sell shoes for $35, but you don’t have to sell them for $200 to make a living. We have swung the pendulum one way or another,” Vega said. He believes there is a marketplace for inexpensive basketball shoes with the technology crucial to compete with traditional powerhouses.

“If you look at the market, everything costs between $160 and $200. But if you’re making $100 to, let’s say, $120 to $130 and you’re shipping the sneakers to a nice premium retail store that has a performance attribute, I think you’ve got something really special,” Vega said. “I think that’s the sweet spot that a lot of people struggle to hit.”

Affordability is one other vital feature of HOLO Footwear products. “Vega’s parents emigrated from Nicaragua to Miami in the 1990s.” I went to school in a really disenfranchised area of ​​Miami,” he said. “I grew up in a trailer park off thirty sixth Street. You hear people rapping in Miami Jai Alai. It was across the road from where I grew up.

Vega knows from his own experience how expensive it may be for families who want to equip their children with high-quality sneakers. He wants to use the corporate to make a difference.

The co-founders have over 50 years of experience within the footwear industry, having worked for Merrell, Columbia Sportswear, Saucony and Puma. Before the deal with Okoro, HOLO Footwear’s bread and butter were outdoor sneakers and boots.

HOLO goals to provide the identical high standard in IO:01. “We’re taking a lot of the lessons we’ve learned in other industries and applying them to the process of creating this shoe,” Vega said.

“We’re learning. For (Okoro’s first shoe), we wanted something like ‘keep it easy, silly’. He’s an athlete. His body is his temple. We want to be certain his knees are in good condition and his foot is really functional, so we added belt,” Vega said. “There are a lot of design options at this company. We wanted to make sure Isaac could showcase his presence on the court throughout the evening.”

Cohen said HOLO’s flexibility is a huge profit to Okoro.

Kenny Giarla/NBAE via Getty Images

Cleveland Cavaliers forward Isaac Okoro wears blue HOLO Footwear IO:01 sneakers during their game against the Washington Wizards on February 7 at Capital One Arena in Washington, DC.

David Liam Kyle/NBAE via Getty Images

Cleveland Cavaliers forward Isaac Okoro wears black HOLO IO:01 sneakers during a game against the Houston Rockets on December 18, 2023 at Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse in Cleveland.

David Liam Kyle/NBAE via Getty Images

Cleveland Cavaliers forward Isaac Okoro wears pink HOLO Footwear IO:01 sneakers during their game against the Chicago Bulls on February 14 at Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse in Cleveland.

“Isaac put them on and said, ‘Man, these are so comfortable.’ Then the following phase was to test them. He ran, exercised and shared his comments with us. HOLO quickly implemented changes based on Okoro’s feedback, reducing the testing and customization process from two to three months to a few weeks.

“With Isaac back at the table and working directly with the co-founder, this is possible,” Cohen said. “(The sneakers) were a huge priority for us, but I think the unique value proposition is also HOLO’s ability to be agile and make quick decisions because you’re talking directly to the top leadership.”

The care HOLO showed with Okoro’s first release is a part of a long-term strategy for the clothing line. Vega said the corporate is taking its time to be certain all of the pieces are in place before the IO:01 officially goes on sale in the autumn. They work with retailers across the country and create partnerships to maximize sales. HOLO wants to construct all the pieces from scratch.

“We keep getting (excellent) feedback. Now we play with the color and personalize it for him. I think this will be important. We will see which of them get the most heat and we will be able to release them. We are creating special editions for some people who have requested this shoe. We’re excited about it. We are in no rush to make money on them. And we really, really want to do it right,” Vega said.

Okoro said he is honored that HOLO has allowed him to be the primary player to represent its brand and own an equity stake. He said his favorite a part of the sneaker-making process was selecting colours “and seeing what stood out and what caught the eye.”

The variety of equity deals is growing, however it’s still a relatively new landscape, especially for somebody like Okoro and a company like HOLO who’re venturing into high-end basketball shoe manufacturing for the primary time. They’ll be being attentive to sales numbers, but they’re also social media engagement and the impact of the shoe launch on disadvantaged neighborhoods.

“Those are the things that make a story successful,” Vega said. “Did we manage to get (the shoe) into the hands of children? And can they afford it? We want them to wear it and enjoy it. Have we trained them in sustainability? And really, what does that really mean in this day and age?”