Elevated Company: Sonra pushes the threshold of quality and upscale refinement with Porsche Design

Since it’s inception in 2016, Sonra, the passion project and brain-child of Hikmet Sugör, has set a new threshold for quality, thoughtful, and unique footwear. Unlike the collaborations for which Hikmet had been known for through his Solebox affiliation, Sonra has offered a new and singularly directed take on upscale footwear production. Rather than a slew of other brands previously created silhouettes with globally sourced production and materials, Sonra offers new silhouettes from the ground-up with German sourced materials and production (only the soles are produced in Italy). In the short time Sonra has been offered to the public thirteen (13) individual (non-collaborative) Proto, two (2) individual (non-collaborative) Raket colorways have been offered. In his traditional discerning method, Sugör has taken on only two collaborative partners for outfitting Sonra models with mutually directed colorways and branding. With each model possessing only the utmost quality and dropping in relatively low to modest numbers, Hikmet has created a highly sought after, yet somewhat mainstream adverse brand.

This attention to detail and his brand’s meticulously curated nature has the benefit of allowing Hikmet to seek out and work with a non-traditional partner for Sonra’s third collaboration. We sat down with Hikmet and Henning Rieseler of Porsche Design to talk about their collaborative project and how “refreshing” it is creating the world’s newest Sonra Proto.

HI: Hikmet Sugör

HE: Henning Rieseler

How did you guys get together – how did this project come about?

HI: I love cars, and I have an old Porsche, a 912, and I bought it 20 years ago and had to sell it twice in my life to invest in my company. So I bought it back in the beginning of this year, but before I bought it back, I had in mind to work on a project with Porsche Design so  I sent them an email and they invited me to the store, and we had a chat and I asked for some business relationship and it came pretty quick. We quickly found out we both have the same opinions on products, the same requirement, and the same view of how a product should be. So, it was a pretty fast decision.

HE: I have to say, I wasn’t in that decision at that time but it’s quite unusual decision from our side because it’s a very niche product and this collaboration is something special for us because of Hikmet’s fascination for cars, for the sneakers – this lead to the situation where we very quickly said “Let’s do it” and test this and see what the result will be and I have to say the collaboration was great and we just saw it today again, we’re pretty excited and we’re super happy about it.

HI: We just did the unboxing video, where we had the pair in hand and had a chat about the product. It’s a bit honor for me to work with a company like Porsche Design and I was really happy they were so open minded, usually you as a small brand, going to a big company, they don’t listen. But they opened the door, they were friendly, and it was a really “face to face / on the same level” talk and this is really a big honor for me, and it shows that Porsche Design is really a good brand.

HE: For us it was kind of refreshing I have to say, which we loved about it, and this approach of Hikmet and his followers so to say, and his target group is super interesting for us. So, I think what we immediately saw was this opportunity to go in a new direction for the brand. And this is based on our experience and different partnerships with a lot of other companies. I think this is also what makes our company quite open-minded, which immediately lead to the decision to “Let’s do it”

What were some things that each of you brought to the table that the other brand was not fully embracing or was not doing before that sort of opened your eyes? You talked about things being refreshing, what was refreshing because I know obviously you guys operate in two different lanes, Porsche is a really big brand and has a reach all across the globe, while Sonra is very niche. What was it like messing those two brands?

HE: I have to say, one thing is fast decisions and decisions on the same level. Even though we are sometimes a bit different, I think our attitude is very similar when it comes to product quality, materials, what we want to achieve with the products because I think the fascination of the product is more in attention rather than earning money or something like that, which is similar as it’s almost Hikmets core.

HI: Yeah totally, it is a totally new approach for both sides. For me it was a big learning, I learned a lot about how a company like Porsche Design is going into a project. At the same time, I bring a new target group for them, they bring a new target group – we merge both groups together for this project with the story told by me somehow, so my relationship to the car brand Porsche but at the same time the love for brand Porsche Design which is a more than just cars.

HE: I think, with all our products, with cars on one side, but really products with Porsche Design as well, they all tell a story. So, it’s not just like a random portfolio of products or something like that – every single product has a story in the background, from the design team or from who’s responsible for the product and I think this is exactly the same what Hikmet does with his products, specially in this collaboration it was a super perfect match, I mean he is a fan of the Porsche car, and so this was the idea to take inspiration into the product and then merge it with our quality aspect, materials, knowledge and design principals.

Were there any areas where you found yourself either overwhelmed or not in a position where you had done something that the other brand had brought to the table and how was that for you?

HI: Handsome guy, looking always good, smiling.

HE: He is right, actually it’s exactly his personality – with all other partner companies we have worked with it’s always a very good relationship but here, because it’s this one to one relationship, and all the decision are there, we just have to talk quickly it’s just always fun to work together with Hikmet, so this was what we really enjoyed I have to say.

HI: I think the biggest benefit is that we have short ways, I don’t have a big company behind me, so I don’t need to ask the whole team. But I’m really glad to be true, for a big company like Porsche Design it was a pretty easy handle and it was on the same eye sight, so it was never the feeling “This is a big company, and they’re looking from above me”, it was always respectful on both sides and as I said I am really grateful that we have created a great product in a such short time. So it not obvious to be true, as you guys might think too, they’re working with big brands too, why should they do it with a niche brand like mine and I think the biggest benefit is that we’re both sitting in Germany, in Berlin and it’s our hometown and the product is made in Germany so it’s a good match – top quality it’s still the DNA of Porsche Design, you know, timeless, high quality, colorways are really classic and I think it’s a good project for both of us, without benefitting from one side – it’s really balanced.

So Hikmet, what inspirations were you able to draw on from Porsche, were there any specific models, I know you were mentioning the 912 that you have had this relationship with, but I am curious if there are any other models, any other aspects of the Porsche Design that you incorporated or were inspired by to push this product further?

HI: For the shoe it was really my love-story to my car to be true, which is pretty “easy” on one side, and pretty uncommon for Porsche design because if you look at the past, all their footwear was rarely used Porsche cars as inspiration, but on this one it was really a match, I have been driving for 20 years, as a young kid I bought this car, and it’s a love relationship to my car and it’s matching. Porsche Design is still the same family, the founder of Porsche Design was the guy who designed the car which I am driving – it is just a perfect match.

HE: And I think in the collaboration, it was quite funny to see Hikmet’s love for his car. In the discussions, we also discussed that we should incorporate the simplicity of Porsche Design, the colors that matches, also the entire brand so what we did not want to have is like a car on your feet.

HI: So I started with some drawings where I put the engine lit on the shoe, which somehow is cool, but it is not really matching the DNA of Porsche Design because it should be a grown up shoe somehow, it should not be a kid shoe. And this is good to see, you know, get the experience, and the knowledge of the art and of the work of Porsche Design implemented in my work and it was good so it was an educational process. Even though it is “only” grey, but it is Slate Grey, which is also the color of the classic Porsche.

How long did this project take from start to finish?
HI: I think the longest time was now to wait for the release due to Covid-19, the production itself and everything, was pretty fast, six months or so.

HE: And the design process even quicker, because we made very fast decisions.

How does this Sonra set itself apart from other Sonras you have done in the past? Do you think that this is probably your most ambitious project?

HI: Of course, every project I did in the past is for me ambitious, but this one is really is a strong project for myself, for my personality, for my history, so Hikmet and my love to the brand Porsche. You know, I am a big fan of, I should not say it too loud because they sit next to me, but I am a big fan of the brand, just imagine a fanboy, is getting the opportunity to work with the name, he was always as a kid dreaming of to be working with. Now it is getting really romantic. If I die tomorrow, I can say to myself, I have achieved everything I wanted.

HE: But it is fascinating, because I have to tell you the story before the collaboration started, I do not know where but I got to know your company, and I had a look at your website and looked at the past releases, and I was fascinated of exactly what I like, classic shoes, not too wild, I am more into the classic sneaker, and then it was like “Sold out, sold out, sold out”. But then the opportunity came, and I was told we were going to start to work with Sonra and I was like “Wow! what a coincidence”. So, I have to say, I think from both sides.

Now that you have this love affair going, will we see any Hikmet DNA or Hikmet influence in another Porsche Design products going forward?

HI: Let us see it as a start for something where we do not know where it is going to. You know it is a project, let us release this one then after a while we will sit together again and talk about it, and then we will see what we do, if we do something. But we have never gone into this with a business plan for five years or something like that, we have just done it the Hikmet way to be true, which is unusual for a German company.

HE: I think for our brand, it is also super refreshing, and there is nothing planned right now but I think this will have an influence on the future collaborations and possibilities, not just with Sonra but with other brands as well because this is a little bit next to our regular path but I think this is becoming more and more important in the future and also like, getting the younger target group, different distribution channels, different methods to talk to people, because a lot of this is about communication. So, I think this is a big chance for us in the future as well.

The Porsche Design x Sonra will be available exclusively at Porsche Design on October 24th. You can find more info right here: