Don't Underestimate the Toughness of Vans' GORE-TEX Sneaker
Regular Vans are the quintessential SoCal shoe. Those casual pumps, with their deck shoe past and established skateboarding legacy, are ubiquitous along the Venice boardwalk.
The shoes from Vans' MTE line, however, are less California cool and more rough-and-ready outdoor gear. These are more like the kinds of shoes you expect to see from dedicated hiking labels like Merrell.
The Vans MTE Going Further collection, its newest range of footwear, highlights just how rugged the line’s sneaker can get.
The collection focuses on the Crosspath XC GORE-TEX sneaker, a shoe brimming with technology.
On the newest Crosspath shoe, there’s waterproofing provided by GORE-TEX’s invisible fit technology, hardwearing ripstop reinforcements, and a custom Vibram outsole for traction. In short, it’s a seriously nifty outdoor shoe.
To illustrate the shoe’s functionality, Vans put pairs on the feet of surfers and snowboarders for its newest campaign, letting the Crosspath go to battle against conditions of opposing extremes.
But the brand also highlighted a few of its other outdoorsy innovations. There’s the Sk8-Hi sneaker, originally designed for skating but now reimagined with GORE-TEX, or the Luna Pro snowboarding boot with a trusty BOA lacing system.
Even beyond footwear, there are items like the High Country 3-Layer Jacket with its taped seams and zippered vents.
That’s the thing, Vans’ outdoorsy offering is far more extensive than one would expect. Flick through the brand’s MTE range, where all the aforementioned items are available to shop now, and you find a strong argument to start naming Vans as a through-and-through outdoor clothing brand.
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