Vans' Slip-On Was Perfect. But Engineered Garments Knows It's Better Imperfect (EXCLUSIVE)
Vans' Slip-On was already perfect. But Engineered Garments knew that it was better imperfect. The mismatched Slip-On sneakers that the pair designed as part of their first collab remains the gold standard for collaborative Vans shoes, neither too wild to be wearable nor too minor an update to a certified classic.
They're still so good that Engineered Garments and Vans' higher-end imprint, Vans OTW, only just ran them back in early September with mishmash Slip-On shoes inspired by a retro Vans advertisement. But that's old-school inspiration. What about, oh, 12-ish years ago?
Mere days later, Engineered Garments and Vans OTW are already back at it, quietly dropping a two-piece of collaborative Slip-On shoes exclusive to Nepenthes stores — Nepenthes is the Japanese parent company of New York-based Engineered Garments — that pick up on the lineage of that first collab in 2013.
To summarize, these Vans ought to look familiar to EG heads.
Whereas Engineered Garments and Vans OTW's previous set of Slip-Ons were comparatively overt in their asymmetry, the new sneakers are far subtler.
Both shoes are dressed in what Engineered Garments calls "the core classic colors" of Vans' Slip-On, which means black or navy uppers atop a white midsole. The difference is in the details, quite literally: each shoe wears disparate panels of tonal suede and leather, creating entirely disparate sneakers that reveal themselves only upon close inspection.
This is exactly what made Engineered Garments and Vans' debut collaboration so gratifying when they debuted in similar colors back in 2013.
Rather than being weird for the sake for weird, EG's Vans Vault Slip-Ons were daily drivers with panache, reflecting the approachable but elevated approach that remains in place even with two new designers at Engineered Garments' helm.
In the ensuing years, Engineered Garments and Vans would sometimes create similarly mismatched Slip-On sneakers — a familiar footwear motif for EG — that undergirded the appeal of those initial laceless skate shoes.
Though the EG approach also makes plenty sense for laced Vans kicks, it really shines on a shoe as simple as a Slip-On, with the vacant upper leaving plenty room to highlight material intrigue.
And, just like old times, material intrigue is the name of Engineered Garments and Vans' game.
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