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.
more pics after the jump
