Vans' Classic Authentic Takes a Swing at the Tennis World

Having long since dominated the skatepark, Vans is taking its talents to the tennis courts. In collaboration with Japanese lifestyle brand Setinn, an anagram for tennis, Vans has beefed up its classic Authentic sneaker and effectively fused two worlds with one shoe.

When it comes to trope-ified style boundaries, skateboarding and tennis exist on opposite sides of the spectrum. Tennis is preppy and poised while skateboarding is rugged and punk. These shoes wouldn't be caught frolicking together in any teen flicks.

But with this collaborative Authentic sneaker, Vans has merged two opposite worlds and created a delightful juxtaposition.

A black canvas upper sports rakish white checkered lines, which gives the shoe an artsy charm that doesn't have to be perfect to play the game.

Elsewhere, Setinn and Vans keep things pretty simple with white laces and a coordinating rubber outsole and slightly heightened sidewalls. This is a Vans Premium sneaker after all — only the best. "Setinn" lettering at the base also adds some stylistic deviation to the sneaker that otherwise maintains its skatepark charm.

Through collabs like this one and other cross-genre mash-ups, Vans not only subverts the status quo, it routinely disregards its existence. The limit simply does not exist.

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