Hoff brings in former Balenciaga shoe designer David Tourniaire-Beauciel

The Spanish shoe brand Hoff is opening a new chapter: the company has appointed David Tourniaire-Beauciel as its new design director. The renowned French designer has played a key role in the development of revolutionary shoe collections from well-known fashion brands in recent years. He worked for labels such as Off-White, Chloé and, above all, Balenciaga.

Fran Marchena, the co-founder and CEO of Hoff, confirmed Tourniaire-Beauciel’s signing via his social networks. The appointment was previously kept top secret, but the French designer has already taken up his new post. Marchena announced that the brand will unveil the “Seven” model, the first sneaker designed by Tourniaire-Beauciel for Hoff, on Thursday.

Tourniaire-Beauciel had previously worked closely at Balenciaga with Georgian designer Demna Gvasalia, who was the fashion house’s creative director from October 2015 to July 2025 before moving to Gucci.

“If someone had told me that the creator of these silhouettes would one day be chief designer at Hoff, I would not have believed it. But it happened,” explained Fran Marchena on the occasion of the appointment. He was referring to models like the “Speed” sock sneaker or the “Triple S” from Balenciaga, which revolutionized the label and shook up the sneaker world. This also includes Chloé’s “Nama” with its colorful stitching, which was a turning point for the brand.

Tourniaire-Beauciel has designed for Chloé, Givenchy, Maison Margiela, Ferragamo and Balenciaga

The change at the top of the design department marks a new direction for Hoff. The company will mark the beginning of this new era on October 16th with the opening of its flagship store in Madrid.

Marchena and Tourniaire-Beauciel gave the US trade publication Footwear News initial insights into how Hoff plans to position itself in the market and accelerate its global growth. This clearly shows that the Spanish company is trying to attract the attention of an international audience, especially in the United States. Hoff does not yet have its own stores there.

At the end of 2024, the brand’s retail network comprised a total of 60 mono-brand stores, of which 45 are independently operated and 15 are operated by franchise partners. The company also sells its products wholesale and online. In the 2024 financial year, Hoff was able to increase its annual sales by twenty percent to 66 million euros. Sales of 80 million euros are forecast for 2025.

“For me, Hoff has joy, colors, energy, freshness and of course a democratic approach to design in its DNA,” Tourniaire-Beauciel told Footwear News. “I definitely want to keep the DNA of the brand, but also add new concepts, new constructions and maybe explore more possibilities in design.”

Tourniaire-Beauciel can look back on a long, successful career as a shoe designer. He has worked as both a consultant and creative director for houses such as Chloé, Ungaro, Stella McCartney, Givenchy, Isabel Marant, Ferragamo and Maison Margiela. At Maison Margiela he held the position of design director for shoes from 2005 to 2017. Further positions included Fendi, Jacquemus, Clergerie, Off-White and Balenciaga, where he headed the footwear design department from February 2016 to February 2024.

With his appointment, Hoff CEO Marchena now has the same goal. “To push boundaries and reinvent what sneakers can be.”