Exclusive: Raphael Kohlberg Launches His First ‘Quiet Luxury’ Sneakers for Rakoh

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Rakoh’s Raphael Kohlberg is taking luxurious new steps forward with his shoe brand’s first sneaker.

Launching today, Rakoh’s debut casual style takes the form of a round-toed, unisex slip-on sneaker. The $365 style is available in black leather, brown leather and gray suede in men’s sizes; on the women’s front, the pair is cast in the aforementioned leathers, as well as smooth sand or light tan suede. The style’s neutral palette was inspired both by Kohlberg’s own day-to-night aesthetic, as well as the cliffs and beaches he regularly visits in his home base of Israel.

“I want colors that you’ll feel like, ‘These are my day-to-day shoes that can be worn everyday easily, or easily dressed up,'” Kohlberg exclusively tells FN. “I love black and there’s a million shades of black, so I look for that shade of black I like, but I also look for these other colors that are…that really beautiful brown that’s just still easy to wear but kind of special, or the sand colors.”

While creating his brand’s first sneaker, Kohlberg reveals the process didn’t come without challenges. The designer shares that in 2021, the COVID-19 pandemic sharply slowed down his production lines — which were soon followed by his sneaker sole’s producer going bankrupt. Though he says things aren’t “caught up back to normal” yet, Kohlberg does share that he did get to utilize his original soles — a foam-filled rubber cup sole — in his final design, aiming to fix his personal dilemma of not finding comfortable sneakers with a luxe appearance on the market.

“When I was in Italy, I saw a sneaker off to the side in the factory I work with that had this unique interior, and I just asked, ‘What is this? This is so cool.’ It was a rubber cup sole, but filled with foam. I started working with that, and the results were incredible,” Kohlberg recalls. “I was like, ‘This is it. This is the huge step up that makes me feel like putting on a sneaker really makes sense,’ because it solves the problem I was having. It gives you that bounce and energy return feel of a really great running shoe, but it has that more classic rubber cupsole sneaker look.”

Kohlberg’s sneakers also tap into major shoe moments sweeping the industry. One is the rise in unisex footwear, which the designer has approached by creating the slip-on in both men’s and women’s sizes — allowing a wide range of fits that customers can size up in. Another is the “quiet luxury” aesthetic, which hinges on logo-less, minimal pieces in neutral hues to project a luxe appearance — which he says is a happy coincidence.

“[Quiet luxury] happens to fit really well with parts of what my brand is all about, because my shoes are pretty unbranded except in the insole, which you don’t see unless you take the shoes off,” Kohlberg says. “If the ‘quiet luxury’ trend fades away, I’m not going to change what the brand is about. For now, it’s a nice alignment.”

As for the future, Kohlberg is continuing to grow Rakoh’s shoe repertoire. Next on the agenda is the future launch of derby shoes and loafers, as well as the continued use of his foam-filled soles — which he’ll add to more sole styles, including a boot line.

Rakoh’s slip-on sneakers are now available on the brand’s website, with women’s sizes also sold at Serenella.