How to Choose the Best Leather Shoes For Men & Women

There’s something timeless about leather. The way it looks. The way it ages. The way it feels on your feet. But finding the best pair of leather shoes or sneakers isn’t always simple. You want them to be soft, but not so soft that they don’t support your step. They should be comfortable right out of the box and get even better with wear. Lastly, you’ll want to make sure they’re being sourced properly and made using premium materials.

Our team is serious about sourcing, which is why all of our leathers come from gold-level tanneries that are part of the Leather Working Group, a not-for-profit organization responsible for the world's leading environmental certification for the leather manufacturing industry.

In addition to the sustainability factor, we also put thought into which types of leather we use for each of our shoes.

Shop OluKai Leather Shoes Collection

We work hard to deliver all of that and more in our men’s leather shoes and women’s leather shoes collections. Here’s some info you might not know about leather, and what our products bring to the table:

Leather Kicks We Love

For every product, we aim to select leathers that have great character, feel comfortable immediately, and have strong visual appeal. How we determine that depends on the type of leather we’re working with.

When seeking out full-grain leather, we look for a soft surface finish and medium temper, which references the firmness. This specific combination not only provides the support and structure that a shoe upper needs, but also requires no break-in period. With leather sneakers like our men’s Lae‘ahi Lī ‘Ili and women’s Pehuea Lī ‘Ili, you can feel the level of comfort full-grain leather provides as soon as you lace them up. And that comfort only gets better with age.

Goes With Every Outfit

We select our leathers primarily for the soft, velvety surface feel and physical touch. We love the visual depth and rich feel of leather, without feeling overly polished or dressy. It's a nice middle ground when it comes to casual looks, and our men’s Lae‘ahi Lauhala and women’s Mi‘i are great examples.

We don't use suede leathers all that often, but when we do, we do it right. Suede has a buttery soft surface feel and tends to come from thinner leather hides. That means they need little to no break-in period. We love to introduce suede in the fall and winter, as you’ll see on some of our sneakers like Kōheo.

Colorwise, we want to give you options. Our leather shoes & sneakers are offered in a wide assortment ranging from white leather to black leather. Within that range, there's also a balance of light to dark browns. Additionally, you’ll find a handful of grays like Charcoal, Pavement, Fog, Warm Taupe.

Our fun-loving, town-to-trail stepping Kaulele is a nostalgic sneaker built for wandering. Crafted with two-tone, premium, full-grain leathers that mold to your feet with every step, the Kaulele’s got that bounce in the footbed that makes you want to stay out longer.

For something a little easier to maintain, Hā’upu ‘Oho is a great pick for versatility, style, and comfort. We crafted Hā’upu ‘Oho with soft, full-grain leather dressed with pony hair overlays, yielding a unique sneaker that molds to your foot with every step.

Customers Love These Leather Picks

We’re committed to selecting leathers that focus on quality and comfort. With our sneakers, we choose leathers that offer that perfectly worn feeling right away, no break-in. That comes from taking a pure, natural material and combining it with our guiding principle, the Wet Sand Principle. The end result is a perfectly evergreen leather sneaker that fits like a glove and supports your every step.

"These shoes are great fitting and my go-to pair in the closet. The leather is smooth and of great quality." - Robert, Lae‘ahi Lī ‘Ili, ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

"The perfect white sneaker. Very comfortable from the start-day one. I love a white sneaker with jeans or shorts. My go to… the leather is beautiful. They fit true to size, I wear with socks and without." - Mary, Pehuea Lī ‘Ili, ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

"Great buy ,comfortable,classy.Many people have asked what are they and I respond Olukai of course" - Dennis, Lae‘ahi Lauhala, ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

"These shoes are incredibly comfortable, versatile, and stylish! I love the woven leather which elevates this style. I was searching for a flat black shoe to wear with a number of my outfits and this is perfect!" - Maureen, Mi‘i, ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️