This is Kith’s first Vans collab, and leave it up to them to come out strong for their initial offering.  As a longtime avid sneaker collector, myself, who supported Ronnie Fieg early on during his David.Z days, it comes as no surprise that Ronnie, an enthusiast of sneakers, who keeps his ear to the street and his finger on the pulse of the current sneaker culture, would release a Vans collab of this magnitude.  I mean, first off, Kith decided to bring on Japanese label Mastermind for a 3-way collection, who design some of the dopest Japan-exclusive Vans.  That alone says we didn’t come to fuck around.  Next, just look at the amount of details that went into each shoe.  You have ultra-premium leather, sherpa linings, custom-branded lace eyelets, debossed vulcanized foxing, as well as some custom metal logos all over the entire collection.  You might even say that there is too much customization going on, but I think they were going for the over-the-top first impression, agree?  They also have a slightly more subtle tonal black offering as well, but even those still have the logos, branding, and customization throughout each shoe.  We don’t see pricing yet, and that’s scary, because I want them all, and I know it’s going to hurt!  Y’all couldn’t have just released one or two pairs, huh?!  Congrats on your first Vans collab, and hopefully you do many more!  (Waiting for a Salmon Toe Vans release!)

Words via Kith:

“Kith collaborates with Vans for the first time, as the brand adds to the coveted lineage of mastermind’s partnership with Vans. These tri-branded models include two Sk8-Hi Zip LX, an Old Skool LX, and an OG Classic Slip-On.

The Sk8-Hi Zip LX in black features a canvas and nubuck upper with silver hardware, while the brown model is crafted from leather with lux sherpa lining and gold hardware. This brown makeup is also applied to the Old Skool LX, while the OG Classic Slip-On is coated in a black Kith monogram pattern. All four models also have the collection’s phrase “Peace on Earth / World on Fire” debossed into the soles.”

Kith x Mastermind World releases January 18th at all Kith shops

Edit with pricing and official description from Kith on 1/17/19 at 3:56 PM PDT:

Kith x mastermind WORLD x Vans OG Classic Slip-On LX – The OG Classic Slip-On LX is executed in black makeup and features a canvas upper accented with an all-over printed Kith classic and Mastermind Skull & Crossbones logo. The nubuck quarter panels provide added style as well as the elasticated side panels. The padded collar ensures a comfortable fit as well as the quilted satin liner and custom leather inserts. Other elements include – the high rubber foxing, the reinforced toe box, the debossed World On Fire logo on the left midsole, the debossed Peace On Earth logo on the right midsole, the Vans off the wall license plate heel logo, the metal Kith classic logo on the right heel. Lastly, this model sits atop a vulcanized rubber midsole and the waffle outsole which features a printed Skeleton graphic. $125 USD.

Kith x mastermind WORLD x Vans OG Old Skool LX – The OG Old Skool LX is executed in a brown makeup and features a premium leather upper accented with a comfortable shearling liner. The V-cut tongue provides added style as well as the metal co-branded eyelets and rope laces with metal co-branded aglets. The all-over debossed Skull & Crossbones logo ensures added style as well as the stitched formstripes. Other elements include the debossed Kith and Mastermind logo on the toe box, the reinforced toe box, debossed World On Fire logo on the left midsole, debossed Peace On Earth logo on the right midsole, the Vans off the wall license plate heel logo and the Metal Skull & Crossbones on the left heel and Metal Kith classic logo on the right heel. Lastly, this model sits atop a vulcanized rubber midsole and a waffle outsole with a printed Skeleton graphic. $185 USD.

Kith x mastermind WORLD x Vans SK8-Hi Reissue Zip LX – The Sk8-Hi Reissue Zip LX model is available in black or brown color schemes. The black model features a nubuck upper accented with a quilted satin liner while the brown model features a premium leather upper accented with a shearling liner. Both models feature Off The Wall tongue tabs, custom leather inserts, high rubber foxing, a reinforced toe box, metal co-branded eyelets, rope laces, a metal Skull & Crossbones on the collar, debossed branding on the collar, formstripes, and midsole. Other elements include – the Vans off the wall license plate heel logo, rear zipper closure, a vulcanized rubber midsole, and a waffle outsole with a printed Skeleton graphic. $225 USD.

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So right after we released the Bows And Arrows collab, we saw that Hypebeast posted up the names of the other four shops taking part in this 5×5 project.  Joining Bows And Arrows will be the following Vault retailers: Chicago’s Notre, Seoul Korea’s WORKSOUT, Italy’s Slam Jam, and Antwerp Belgium’s Vier.  Each shop has a unique shoe, none similar to each others, and no common theme.  Just 5 shops, releasing a collab at the same time.  Since we’ve already featured the B&A shoe, we will just talk a little bit about each of the other ones.

Notre, known for curating some of the higher end brands you may or may not have heard of, have gone with an OG Old Skool, covered in green and light gray hairy suede, with a unique hand-shaking jazz stripe.  The color blocking is what stands out the most to me, on these, and they’re looking pretty clean!

WORKSOUT is one of the newer boutiques to carry Vaults, and for their first collab, we get an OG Authentic LX.  The design of their Authentic was inspired by Worksout’s iconic material “Zinc” and “Mesh” which is used for the exterior and the interior of the Worksout store. The shoe body is covered by “Mesh” and the metallic shoelace represents “Zinc”.  Finally, the hidden reflective layer represents the worthiness of WORKSOUT. (Translated…sorta.)

Slam Jam has had a few Vault collabs, and the OG Era LX they went with this time, is straight out of the 80’s.  Going with that BMX-pack feel, we get a white, red, and black checkerboard print, with some custom Slam Jam logotypes printed on the sidewalls, designed by Fergus Purcell aka “Fergadelic”.  There is also a hidden message printed on the gum waffle sole, that reads “Stamp Out Mediocrity”.  These are definitely not mediocre!

Vier, comes at us with the OG Slip-On LX, done up in a few different patterns.  Tiger stripes, and Palm Leafs.  The vulcanized sidewalls have a script message that reads “Vamos a la playa”, or “Come with us to the beach” if my 10th grade spanish serves me correct.

This is a cool little pack we have here.  I won’t rank them in any order of favorites, as there’s something here for everyone, but I like that each shop chose a different model, and I like that we get to see a few first-timers here with the Vault collabs.  Each shoe will be releasing this Saturday, 12/15, so keep an eye out on each shop’s site and social media for release info.

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Vans has teamed up with Union Los Angeles, to release the Polka Dot pack.  Available in a Burnt Sienna & Atlantic Deep colorway, the pack consists of two OG Era LX’s and two OG Classic Slip-On LX’s.  We first got a preview of this design at ComplexCON, where Union released a navy and white exclusive.  Pairs are currently up on their site, for $90 a piece.

The following excerpt is from Union:

“This seasons offering of the Union Van’s colab we wanted to pay homage to the traditional check pattern but with a twist. We decided to reimagine the check pattern but instead of squares do circles…uh, uh….get it??? The problem with squares vs. circles is that circles leave negative space so we had to find a third color. That’s when we decided to add another layer and do 3 colors ways; Red, Black and Green (if you think about it, you’ll know what I mean). But in true Union fashion we didn’t use the atypical RBG and instead offered some reimagined colorways. The other difficult thing about circles is everyone things is polka dots…so in the end we just decided to go with the flow and call them dots. So with no further adieu we present to you the Union RBG Dot collection.”

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END. is set to release their latest project with Vault By Vans, an OG Classic Slip-On LX & OG Old Skool LX, and we wanted to give you a little bit of a P/Review of what to expect.  First of all, I want to thank END for the early plug on these, and for just allowing a Vans collector like myself, to have a little bit of an edge over the steep competition out there.  With Vans’ current hype, many of you Vans vets know the struggle!  But anyways, this is another banger to come out of the UK, and it’s no surprise that there is this more refined aesthetic that we seem to get from the Vault By Vans collaborations coming out of Europe.  END took the most iconic Vans shoe, the black and white checkerboard Slip-On, and literally put a twist on it.  We’ve seen the checkerboard done in so many color combos and materials, but this is the first time we’ve actually seen it morphed and twisted in this unique pattern.  To top it off, the pattern was woven, not printed, so each pair will have it’s own unique part of the fabric, so no two pairs should look the same.  Major props for that, alone!  It’s all about the execution, and the premium features don’t stop there.  We get premium full grain leather, complete with that soft slight wrinkling in it, that lets you know it’s good.  Pigskin linings are standard on your OG Vaults now days, but it’s still nice to mention.  The inner lining of the Slip-On is all checkerboard as well, with the footbeds carrying the same Vertigo pattern, and END branding on the heel pad.  The vulc soles are a natural white color.  I can’t forget to mention the super cool checkerboard Vans flag on the sides.  The Old Skool comes with 3 pairs of laces, which I opted for the grey wool-like ones.  Each pair will come in a larger over-sized custom velveteen wrapped box, the same one used for last year’s END collab, but this one is wrapped in the Vertigo themed checkerboard print.  What a nice finishing touch, to an already amazing pack. 

END evens the playing field for most of their more anticipated releases, by making you sign up for a chance to purchase, rather than crash a server, causing a lot of wasted time trying to race to the checkout.  I hope everyone who is going after these, gets them.  They’re perfectly priced at $99 USD for the Slip-On and $109 USD for the Old Skool.  Release is set for this Saturday 12/8 at 1:00 AM GMT online.

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