About UNDER THE PALMS

Under The Palms is the original resource for the Vans sneaker collector community. For over a decade, we’ve fostered a sub-culture of fanatics, sharing a common interest in rare and limited Vans sneakers. We link people from all over the world, from all different backgrounds and the diversity is a testament to Vans’ popularity throughout the world.

Offthewallsite was created in 2007 by Raf Villaruz, and I took the reigns in 2010. At the end of 2013, we evolved into Under The Palms. If you’re wondering why that name, well, it has a few meanings to us. First, it represents the Southern California lifestyle, which Vans is very much a staple in that respect. Second, it represents the struggle of not being recognized or respected. If you feel like you’re always stuck under the palms of somebody or something that is holding you back, then we share that same struggle.

I am personally a sneaker enthusiast and have been for many years before I discovered that Vans were also in the fashion and streetwear culture. There was something wildly cool and authentic about the Vans designs and collabs coming out of Vault and Syndicate. We promote all things dope about Vans, and we are the most knowledgeable core group of Vans enthusiasts in the sneaker world.  Not just with the shoes, but with the culture, the history, and the heritage.  Vans has a ton of that, unlike a few other brands who buy their way into an industry, and we see those brands trying to sell something as being limited, and creating tons of hype, and then re-releasing it later on, just making their customers mad and causing some to defect.  Those tactics have allowed Vans to win over a new customer, and even a few loyalists.  We embrace that authenticity about Vans, and we show the people that there’s also a sneaker collector community within Vans.  We even convert fans into advocates.  We find people all the time who have worn nothing but Vans their entire life, but never knew there were Vans Vaults, Syndicates, and many collabs.  We show them that there’s so much more to Vans out there.   Without a place to gain knowledge, share release info, show off collections, and buy and sell your Vans to people who are specifically looking for your shoes, then why collect?  Vans might as well not even do limited and cool stuff.

Little by little, we organically grew. Word of mouth and some early shop supporters like In4mation and Silo were key in helping us grow. They recognized that we were doing something completely different from the trends in the sneaker industry, and we kind of still are. By staying true to ourselves, and not copying others, we gain an authentic group of supporters, and not just followers. As time and technology advanced, we noticed that the people had chosen Facebook as their primary communication source, and that’s where you’ll find most of our community now days. What we created early on, has evolved, and the Vans community has found a new outlet to communicate and interact, and that’s with our friends over at Strictly Waffles (formerly Strictly Vans). Props to our homies Eddie and Joey for recognizing this format early on! We invite any and all true sneaker enthusiasts, or Vans loyalists. If you’re just here for the trend, then beat it! -Guamstyles

Contact: djguamstyles@stuckunderthepalms.com

Twitter: @underthepalms_
Instagram: @underthepalms
Facebook: www.facebook.com/underthepalms