Vans can keep iterating its classic sneakers for all eternity and it'll never get old. There will never not be demand for basic skate shoes, after all, though Vans knows how to zhoosh up its signature silhouettes with enough pizazz to keep things interesting.
Take the Vans Authentic 44 DX OG "Granny Check" collection, for instance. Here you have three pairs of Vans Authentic sneakers, realized in basic colorways and fabrications but rendered wholly anew by elegantly embroidered panels of elderly pattern.
Dropping on Vans' website and stores in July, the "Granny Check" Vans look like they've been crocheted with love, as each sneaker sports a stitched swirl, square, or flower that could've been swiped from granny's handstitched heirloom quilt.
Revolutionary? Hardly, but who cares? Vans knows its shoes are essential with or without the stylistic upgrade but a little flair doesn't hurt.
Heck, in the case of Vans x Sailor Moon, the stuff all practically sells itself.
Given that contemporary skate-inspired shoes are usually either super chunky or cut for actual boarding, the lifestyle space needs these kinds of low-profile Vans and if they come with a nifty design, so much the better.
Vans' recent collaborations with *deep beath* Blends, Brain Dead, Joe Freshgoods, Anderson .Paak, and NOAH keep the VF Corp-owned skate company well-stocked with cultural clout as well (just don't ask about MSCHF).
Crocheted clothing isn't a new trend, either, having been explored by luxury labels, footwear designers, and plenty of independent artists over the past few years, but seeing a form of it atop some old-school shoes makes it feel fresh again. What's old is gold and all that (especially granny herself, of course).
