A Skate-able Photo Gallery
The OTW by Vans x Atiba Jefferson drop isn’t just art for your feet. It’s a full-on gallery show you can skate in.
Every inch of these sneakers is printed onto: The left shoe features legendary skateboarder John Cardiel, while on the right, you find Turnstile’s Franz Lyons. It’s a perfect diptych of Atiba Jefferson’s world.
An established pillar of the skate community, Jefferson’s work ranges from blessing Thrasher covers with raw poetic imagery to somehow also finding time to work on Happy Gilmore 2. His work spans decades, from Transworld Skateboarding to portraits of Tyler, the Creator and John Mayer.
On the other side, Turnstile is a punk band with sonics that feel equal parts Kurosawa dream sequence, Brooklyn sweat, and emotional excavation.
Cardiel and Lyons represent two poles of the Vans universe. One rooted in raw skate history. The other pushing punk into something emotional, open, and creatively cool, and oh so Vans.
This is a company whose fans have built a punk-leaning, DIY community around customizing its Authentic and Era shoes for decades. Skateboarding and skate photography have always been symbiotic, not just delivering behind-the-scenes magic for anyone who ever dreamed of landing a 720 at the X Games, but evolving into a visual language all its own. Think Spike Jonze and Harmony Korine.
These worlds collide on your feet, starting September 18 at Vans’ website. With drops like this, OTW feels like Vans remixing its legacy in real time. The mix of skateboarding, art, and grassroots punk energy makes this one of the most “Vans” releases they’ve done in a minute.
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