After just a sneak peek at Vans’ top-tier OTW line during Paris Fashion Week in 2023, the skate brand is finally starting to reveal some of the shoes that stans of the ultimate thrasher sneaker can look forward to when the sub-label officially launches in 2024.
OTW, which stands for “Off The Wall,” will replace Vault by Vans as the top tier category for the company’s luxury shoes and designer collabs come 2024, effectively meaning that Vans Vault will be no more.
Not that Vans fans ought to be sad because what OTW is cooking up looks very good, if the chunky Half Cab sneaker boot revealed by first-look imagery shared on social media is anything to go by.
The new shoe elevates the time-honored Half Cab shoe by turning it into a mid-ankle boot, with a big Vibram sole that makes it feel more like an après snowboarding boot than a skate shoe.
This OTW boot turns the OG Half Cab sneaker into a luxe, fashion-forward boot suitable for Vans’ luxe new imprint, with premium materials on the upper and a chunky sole that gives impressive weight to the classic silhouette, effectively transforming it into a new shoe entirely, underscoring the mutable ethos of OTW.
OTW has also provided some glimpses of a Half Cab made of a tweed patterned with Vans' black-and-white checkered print and all-black trail shoe that riffs on the Old Skool model. These first OTW looks are statements in and of themselves, using the past to inform future creations with an air of luxury granted to the shoes by the premium uppers and tough soles.
They may not all be skate-friendly but they sure are nice looks for Vans' classic kicks.
OTW creative director Ian Ginoza told Highsnobiety earlier this year that he aims to reinvent Vans classics and innovate new looks entirely when needed, like with OTW's forthcoming partnership with artist Sterling Ruby and his S.R. STUDIO. LA. CA. clothing brand.
“On the new classics build, there is a team working to make sure that every detail from the OG iterations that people loved is maintained,” Ginoza said.
“And then on others, [we're] not as obligated to the past and more just trying to push into the future with the mindset of our origins rather than literal aesthetics or iconography.”
Last year marked the 30th anniversary of the Half Cab and to celebrate, Vans re-released classic iterations of the sneaker as well as fresh collabs, like the similar-yet-totally-different boot-inspired Half Cab Timberland.
This new OTW boot, presumably launching in February, clearly stands in good company.
Pro-skater Steve Caballero first collaborated with Vans in the late eighties to create an original sneaker that was initially more of a high-top skate shoe.
By 1992, Caballero had noticed that skaters on the street were modifying the uppers of his shoe to make them more of a mid-top to allow for more movement (and thus more fluidity in when doing tricks), giving way to the silhouette most Vans devotees will recognize as the trademarked Half Cab look, so named for Cabellero’s signature trick.
Given that the Half Cab was effectively created by actual Vans wearers, the first OTW boot is both a nod to the history of the lifestyle brand and a clear indication that you can reinvent a classic for new tastes.
It's certainly a good sign that as forward-looking as OTW may be, it won't be forgetting Vans' history.
