Kazuki Kuraishi & Vans Salute Skate Culture's Unsung Heroes
Japanese designer Kazuki Kuraishi and Vans have joined forces on a tightly curated capsule collection that nods to both parties' roots in street culture.
Scheduled to drop in-store and online on September 4, two Vans classics — the SK8-Low and Authentic — are outfitted in a clever Kuraishi-designed print comprised of cartoon milk boxes, crates, and art handlers doing heavy lifting.
In a press release, The FOURNESS founder explained that the print is an homage to logistics workers, "and the skateboard competition staff who operate and support the competitors by transporting their decks with the Vans truck and also maintain them in the tents around the truck."
Kurashi's choice to highlight the unsung heroes of skate culture is timely, given all the buzz the sport generated at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics.
The capsule also includes apparel, most notably a white T-shirt, printed with Kuraishi's illustrated art handler, that manages to look vintage. A long-sleeve tee and slim pants also bear a classically '80s-'90s graphic: a pair of smiling lips that channel Keith Haring.
No stranger to collaborations, Vans is one of those brands that will never go out of style. It's adept at converting both fashion folk and the hype-averse into fans — you can't go wrong with the Classic Slip-On, or with Vans' veritable cornucopia of designer collabs (Vivienne Westwood, Fear of God, and COMME des GARÇONS CDG are some of our favorites).
Embraced by skaters, enthusiasts, and those who've never set foot in a skate park, Vans has something for everyone. Kazuki Kuraishi x Vans, though, is for the behind-the-scenes champs that make skate happen.
