Words via Vans:

“Vans  partners with acclaimed Japanese contemporary artist Takashi Murakami for an eclectic collection under Vans’ premium label, Vault by Vans. Celebrated for his vibrant paintings, as well as his immaculate sculptures and designs, Murakami makes his favorite Vans silhouette, the Classic Slip-On – which happens to be the shoe he wears in his studio every day – the focus of his next project. In addition to footwear, the Vault by Vans x Takashi Murakami collaboration brings forth an artistic assortment of apparel and skate decks for release in late June.  Murakami’s anime-influenced aesthetic is renowned for its incorporation of lively colors, shapes and imagery inspired by traditional Japanese art and pop culture. Now generally recognized as a “Superflat” form, a term he himself coined, his work is known for blurring the line between high and low arts.  For fall 2015, two of Murakami’s recurring motifs – the smiling flower and skull patterns – are brought to life in a limited edition selection of Slip-Ons, skateboard decks and tees.

For his collaborative footwear capsule, Murakami presents the Classic Slip-On, in six adult-unisex colorways alongside a trio of toddler-sized offerings. The first half of the adult assortment showcases the smiling flower print in blue, multi-colored and silver line variations while the second half highlights the allover skull arrangement in a darker blue, yellow and gold line color-ups. Murakami’s own dog, Pom, makes a cameo on the footbed of each Slip-On as she sits atop the Vans skateboard logo.  The toddler-sized shoes from the collection are stylized in a more subdued set of color-ups that feature single image prints Murakami’s flower, skull and Pom on each toe vamp.

The Vault by Vans x Takashi Murakami collaboration rounds out with three graphic styles of shirts and skate decks. The tees highlight the smiling flower in a multicolored collage, the skull stamp in an allover silver outline and Murakami himself on a blue background.  The skateboard decks feature the same patterns on their undersides while Pom makes an additional cameo on the wood-finished topside of each deck.

Vans is honored and excited to release the Vault by Vans x Takashi Murakami collection globally on June 27th, 2015. Join the conversation using the #VansxMurakami hashtag on social networks.”

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Excerpts via UBIQ:

“…Using two classic Vans styles, the Era and Sk8 Hi, Ron’s Camo Deer motif is infused into the design, featuring the forest animal sporting the very pattern designed to hunt them…

…Through his works, Ron English became the innovator of “culture jamming,” a process in which he hijacks established billboards by remixing their visuals to speak out against questionable corporate interests…

…Our second Vault by Vans collab features Ron English’s artwork on two iconic Vans silhouettes: Sk8-Hi LX and Era LX. Both styles wear the “Camo Deer” illustration, inspired by the deer and woodsy surroundings of his upstate New York studio. Featuring a lone deer painted entirely in hunter’s camouflage pattern in red, orange, yellow, green and black set against a forest of trees with Autumn leaves, with the lush grass and pink flowers depicted on the triple branded insole. On the Sk8-Hi LX, the Camo Deer roams the canvas between black suede panels, whereas the full scenery of the Pop Woods covers the low-top canvas upper of the Era LX. The shoe box itself is also a work of his art, as it depicts the Camo Deer graphics in its entirety…”

To read the article in it’s entirety, and to see a ton more pics, head over to UBIQ.

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