Erwin’s Current Vans Room

Feb 15 16 under California, China, Collaborations, Friends, General Release, Heritage, History, Japan Only, OTWS, Pro, Supreme, Syndicate, UK Exclusive, UTP, Van Doren, Vault, Vintage, WDYWT | Comments Off

Erwin is the originator of the Vans sneaker room. When he first joined our forum and shared photos of what he had safely locked inside of his house, we were stunned. It’s something that takes a long time to build, and many more have replicated what he has done, and in their own tasteful way, but I just had to pay homage to our friend. Erwin has been thinning the herd, selling off some less favored pairs, but he plans to keep most of the gems. As you can tell, he has a thing for the Sk8-Hi. When we were all buying Chukkas and Half Cabs, Erwin was picking up all of the rarest and coolest Sk8-Hi’s. What blows my mind is that he managed to do this all while residing in the Netherlands. That’s some serious dedication! Thanks for being a part of our core community, and helping educate the new Vans collectors. Salute!

Check out a few prior pics of what the room looked like after the jump

Sole Classics Creates A New Campaign Called #IWearVansBecause (Video) @soleclassics #soleclassics

Feb 15 16 under Collaborations, Heritage, History, Vault, Videos | Comments Off

Sole Classics is celebrating their 10 year anniversary this year, and besides a new Vault By Vans shoe coming shortly, they’ve decided to create an awesome new social media campaign asking everybody “I Wear Vans Because…”. They’ve reached out to a few friends, including Doug Worthington of the Los Angeles Rams, to each give their own answer. This is a great question, and surprisingly I’ve never actually been asked this before. I guess I can say “I wear Vans because they’re authentic.” Newcomers may not understand this, but if you’ve been a Vans fanatic for as long as I have, you know and respect what they’re about. You just get it. Sole Classics gets it, and here’s what they had to say about this super clever campaign:

“Why do you wear Vans? We have helped serve thousands of different customers from all different walks of life, who may not have anything at all in common, yet they share one common bond; their love for Vans. We have seen them skated, preserved, hiked, collected, dressed up and dressed down. The only thing constant is that the people who wear them love them.

To celebrate our upcoming collaboration with Vault by Vans, we have decided to dig a little deeper. We wanted to give you a peek into our world, as some of our customers tell us why they wear Vans. Get active with the hashtag.. #IWearVansBecause”

Vans Japan x Beams – 40th & 50th Anniversary Era 59 & SVD Vinyl Toy

Feb 14 16 under Collaborations, Heritage, History, Japan Only | Comments Off

Vans Japan teams up with Japanese retailer Beams, to celebrate Vans’ 50th and Beams’ 40th anniversaries. They’ve created this vintage looking navy and white Era 59 for the pack, but the coolest thing of all is the vinyl toy that is included, of none other than Steve Van Doren! How cool is that? Why doesn’t Vans USA do this?! As per usual, these are exclusive to Beams Japan, unless you have a proxy.

more pics after the jump

Vans Vault x OTH x ??? – Teaser of a new Sk8-Hi #OTH #VansCanada

Feb 11 16 under Collaborations, Vault | Comments Off

Our friends over at Off The Hook in Montreal, sent us over this exclusive teaser photo of their next collaboration with Vans Vault. This time, they let us know that there is a surprise third partner in this project, and they will announce who it is next week. Until then, all we know is there is a Sk8-Hi of some sort. As info comes in, we’ll be sure to share it here. Thanks to OTH for the exclusive teaser! We can’t wait.

Vans Japan x Billy’s – Era Half Moon (February 2016)

Feb 10 16 under Collaborations, Japan Only | Comments Off

Words via Hypebeast:

“Tokyo retailer BILLY’s is home to yet another exclusive Vans release, this time in form of the Era Half Moon silhouette. Boasting a suede upper, the throwback sneaker is rendered in blue, red, white and black colorways, and features a forefoot wrap that extends from the frontal portion of vulcanized sole. The design is finished off with white lacing and subtle Vans branding. Pick all colorways for ¥9,000 JPY (approximately $74 USD) at BILLY’s starting February 11.”

more colorways after the jump

Vans Vault x Gosha Rubchinskiy Era Decon LX (Aqua Sea) (Video Review by @samcolt12) #goodshoez #samcolt12

Feb 10 16 under Collaborations, Reviews, Vault, Videos | Comments Off

Vans x Fear Of God – Sk8-Hi & Era (August 2016)

Jan 29 16 under Collaborations | Comments Off

Vans has teamed up with Jerry Lorenzo and his brand F.O.G. (Fear Of God) to bring us two fashion forward versions of the Sk8-Hi and Era. Each pair comes in a black and white color combo, with the Sk8-Hi showing a fresh idea for the color blocking, and the Era featuring an all-over pattern of the brand’s logo. These look to be a Vault release, but the initial pics show a GR insole, and the word is that his line will be offered at Pac Sun, and you won’t find a Vault release within those doors. Either way, these are creating a lot of buzz, and we just wanted to join in on the fun.

info via Hypebeast

Hypebeast Interview With Jon & Vinny, and Vans VP Doug Palladini About Kitchen Vans

Jan 28 16 under Articles, Collaborations | Comments Off

Hypebeast sat down with Jon Shook, Vinny Dotolo, and Vans VP Doug Palladini to talk about their recent Vans collaboration, a collection of reimagined Vans silhouettes fit for the modern eatery. They discuss the inspiration for each colorway, the work ethic of those working in the kitchen, and there’s also mention of these shoes coming soon, so check out the article HERE.

UTP x The Laced Locked and Loaded Super Show (Event Recap) @lacedlockedandloaded #lacedlockedandloaded

Jan 26 16 under Collaborations, Events, Friends, OTWS, UTP | Comments Off

This past Sunday, we linked up with the homies at Frank & Sons for their inaugural Laced, Locked, and Loaded Super Show. If you aren’t from the SoCal area, or you aren’t a comic book, sports memorabilia, or toy nerd, then you probably don’t know what Frank & Sons is. Basically, it’s the OG Triple OG place to go for all things just mentioned. They’ve been around longer than San Diego Comic Con, and this was, and still is the place to go, to get your fix on all things collectible, and yes even sneakers! Open every Tuesday and Saturday! Our friend Pablo runs a booth at this show, and he, along with Frankie Z of Frank & Sons, and their team, organized one of the biggest, and best shows we’ve seen, since the Dunkxchange days. Keep in mind, this was a grassroots effort, and the local shops, and sneaker community came out and supported them to the fullest. I was just stoked to see someone local from my same home town area do something like this, and it was a no-brainer to be a part of it. L.A. came to the SGV/IE for this! The show was huge, and there was a ton of heat on display. I knew that if I was going to join in on this, then I would have to bring out some of the best Vans to ever release. Plus, I was representing for the Vans community that couldn’t be there. I took quite a bit of pictures, mostly of our table, which is probably what y’all wanted to see anyways, right? A special thanks goes out to my Tintin, and to the homie Dean for helping me out all day. Thanks to Pablo and Frankie for the hospitality and keeping things running smoothly for everyone, and oh yeah, thanks to everyone who’s already commented on a few pics on Strictly Waffles FB group, and here’s the rest that I took. Enjoy!

pics after the jump

Vans x Jon & Vinny’s – Release Party Recap (1.21.16)

Jan 22 16 under Collaborations, Events | Comments Off

Staying out late on a Thursday night, especially in the mid-city of Los Angeles is pretty tough for a working guy like me, but when you get an invite from Vans to attend a private event that includes food, alcohol, exclusive access to a new shoe, and did I mention food? Well, then you bet your ass I’ll make an effort to attend. Tintin and I had arrived a little late, and were almost denied access due to the restaurant already reaching max capacity, but we somehow managed to convince the door guy to let us in, since we were the only two people standing outside on the sidewalk of Fairfax. Once inside, we were met with a lively crowd, energized by the soulful funk music that was playing in the background. You instantly get hit with the awesome smell of Italian dishes being cooked up right in front of the counter. Wood-fired pizzas, hand-made pastas, and other delicious items were being handed out by waiters everywhere you looked. There were a few notable celebrities in the house as well, as to which I only recognized Jimmy Kimmel, but Tintin could name all of the others from shows that she currently watches. I’m not sure if they were here for the event, or if they were just here to eat, but you know the food is good if guys like Jimmy Kimmel vouch for it. He created the Feast of San Gennaro! He has a Lawry’s Primerib rolling cart! I digress. So we head out to the back of the restaurant, where they have a nice outdoor venue set up, with a tent, an open bar, shoes on display, and Ray Barbee playing some great instrumental tunes for the crowd! What could be better? I ran into all the Vans friends that I’ve met over the years, and made some new ones as well. We enjoyed bombarding the waiters, sampling everything that rolled out of the kitchen. The chocolate filled donuts, peppermint meringue *thingies*, and chocolate cookies were all a nice follow-up to the pizzas and pastas. All in all it was an amazing night, and although the event was about the shoes, the food stole the spotlight and our hats go off to Jon Shook and Vinny Dotolo for their awesome achievement. Their crew looked stoked to have their very own Vans shoe, and everyone wore it with pride. Thanks again Vans for letting us take part in this as well.

tons of event pics after the jump Read More