After a successful launch of our debut lightweight trainers, the Iten, we turned our attention to making a daily trainer. For a long time during the design and prototyping process, we had not figured out a name, so we just used the codename: HMT, for high mileage trainer.

The name.

Just a few month’s to bringing the HMT to life, we did a survey asking the Enda community what name we should give it. We proposed a list of names, but along with voting on those names, members of the community sent in their own ideas. From that group, there was one that jumped out as a cool name with deep meaning: Lapatet.

The word ‘Lapatet’ means ‘running’ ‘to run’ or ‘racing’ in Kalenjin - a diverse ethnic community in Kenya where a majority of renowned Kenyan runners hail from. The name Lapatet was proposed by Nephat, a member of the Enda community. If you have been struggling with the pronunciation, Watch below how to pronounce the name and more about the word ‘Lapatet.’

First colors

But Lapatet is only ever part of the name of the shoe. Each shoe also carries the name of its colorway or color design. We eventually made the first batch of Lapatets in three sets of colors; the Angani Grey, Watamu Blue, and Mara Gold.

 
The Lapatet design borrows a lot from the Kenyan landscape, most notably the waves created as the wind blows across Kenyan landscapes. So the colors were inspired by the dry grasses of the Masaai Mara, the Indian Ocean Ocean, and the clouds that bring seasonal rains. 

Angani Grey Lapatet

‘Angani’ is a Swahili word for ‘Sky.’ The Angani greys are inspired by the beautiful grey skies of the Kenyan plains that span the lowland regions of Kenya.

Watamu Blue Lapatet

Watamu is a small popular locality at the Kenyan coast sometimes referred to as ‘the village of sweet people’ ‘Tamu’ means ‘sweet’ in Swahili. ‘Watamu’ is like saying ‘Sweet ones’ in Swahili.

Mara Gold Lapatet