Would You Skate the LOEWE "Vans" Sneaker?
If Jonathan Anderson had taken a stab at drafting a Vans shoe, the LOEWE Bay Lace-Ups are probably what that'd look like. LOEWE Vans? If only!
Though not an official collaboration between the Spanish luxury house and the skate brand, LOEWE's low-rise sneakers do bear cheeky resemblance to the latter's classic Authentic shoe but with the former's characteristically oddball twist added to the equation.
Available in either beige or khaki canvas (each wearing soft brown lining), LOEWE's Bay sneakers swap Vans' rounded toe box for classically LOEWE square shape made manifest by a thick slab of veg-tanned calfskin.
This meaty accent is stitched to both the LOEWE shoe's upper and its extended outsole, almost giving these skate-ish shoes a dressy edge.
In times when basically all of footwear is taking cues from Miu Miu — including the duped brand itself — it's fun to see LOEWE veer away, if even only slightly, from the super skinny, ballerina-y sneaker trend of late, and give this often imitated, rarely perfected silhouette the Anderson spin.
The Irish designer isn’t the first to luxe up Vans’ lace-ups.
Some months ago, Bottega Veneta released some sumptuous woven leather shoes in its signature Intrecciato make that, too, looked an awful lot like a certain Californian company’s classic skate sneaker.
The timing was quite funny because Vans itself had only just recently debuted some Bottega-ish woven skate shoes of its own. Great minds!
But LOEWE got a little closer than its luxury peer by actually stitching a little LOEWE-branded tag onto the Bay sneaker's vamp, making the shoe's Vans homage that much more overt.
At close to one grand a pair on LOEWE's website, LOEWE's Bay sneaker is probably not a good call for hitting the half-pipe.
But rest assured, if you did, it’d make for the most high-brow shred your crew has seen in a while.
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