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Lookbook // Back to the Grind

Whether it’s the office after a nice long holiday or time with the kids, jammy students to college or uni after campus shutdowns, we’ve got everything you need.

For the tardy ones perfecting that morning speed walk to the work base, these adequately named Maison Margiela runner trainers are a perfect sub for your usual smarts. The fashion house blend of A.P.C. Minimalism and style blended with the universal deconstructed designs of Maison Margiela make for a match of monumental proportions. We’re at the precipice of athleisure dominance, so make the most of luxury comfort whilst it is still at the top of the trends.

Suit swervers assemble … with AMI pulling stunts like the sublime use of the Tattersall check in this super sleek dress shirt, you can still throw on your chino trainer combo and mean business! This clean and contemporary take on staple palettes of #mensfashion is a must have for the modern gentleman. Mix quality accessories from Folk and Andersons Belts into the outfit to pair with minimal designs from the likes of Grenson and Norse.

Serial snoozers know too well the mad dash to lectures, but you can be more than prepared if you up your jersey game. Season favourites from this end are Ralph Lauren and Norse Projects with a hoodie and jogger selections on point. You can roll out on the wrong side of the bed every day if you’re going to rock this simple but effective luxury leisure wear.

Vans Brand Guide

In 1966, Paul Van Doren and his three partners opened up their first store in California, with the unique technique of manufacturing shoes ready for their customers to pick up on the same day. The story goes like this:

As the company itself tells it, the opening of its first store was inauspicious. Vans offered three styles, priced from $2.49 to $4.99, but on the day the store opened for business, the company had only made display models. The store racks were filled with empty boxes. Nevertheless, 12 customers came into the store and chose the colors and styles they wanted. The customers were asked to come back in the afternoon, while Van Doren and Lee rushed to the factory to make their shoes. When the customers returned to pick up the shoes, Van Doren and Lee realized that they had neglected to have money available to make change. The customers were given the shoes and asked to return the next day to pay for them. All 12 customers did.

The initial offering from Vans was the Style #44, now known as the Authentic. Each of Van Doren’s original designs was dubbed with a reciprocal numerical code, this process being revitalised for their Anaheim collection. 

By the end of the 1970s’ Vans had opened 70 stores in California alone, whilst selling through national and international dealers. The blossoming skate culture of California was known in particular for their love of Vans, being adopted as the defacto skate company thanks to its hand in the formulation of the sport. The adoption from skaters Tony Alva, Stacy Peralta and Jay Adams saw the shoe championed by the innovators of the street skate scene, with both Alva and Peralta working heavily with Vans on their second model, the robust and padded Era model. This co-sign from the culture alongside, their ability to adapt ideas from consumer feedback (the waffle sole design, the checkerboard pattern amongst others) and the Slip Ons chance inclusion in Sean Penn’s break out movie, Fast Times At Ridgemont High.

After a whirlwind ascension that saw the brand move deeper into speciality sports footwear, developing baseball, football, umpiring, basketball, soccer, wrestling, boxing, and skydiving shoes all the while expanding their domestic production, the financial impact of such a sudden growth came crashing down on the brand, the company has to file for bankruptcy in 1984, squaring all debts in 1987 and launching their first signature skate shoe with legendary skater, Steve Caballero, birthing the most recognised signature model in the form of the Full Cab and it’s popular variant, the Half Cab.

From then on the Cali brand picked its pedigree back up, selling the company on whilst keeping the Van Doren family involved, outsourcing production, signing the best up and coming pro skaters to the skate team, innovating their footwear in the extreme sports world to offer similar quality levels. A collaboration with then up and coming skate brand Supreme lent a large amount of legitimacy to the Vans company that it had missed since it’s takeover, providing a constant source of creating for both brands with a line that still exists to this day.

From the 00s onward the brand has seen itself become a feature in fashion, rubbing shoulders with established sporting companies like Nike, adidas and New Balance

Collaborations with COMME des GARÇONS, Raf Simmons and A.P.C amongst others have seen the brand championed as the premier skate shoe brand in the world.

A History of Vans Anaheim

March 16th, 1966. 52 years of excellence by the way of the Van Doren family. Let’s take a little crash course to remember their impact.

Continuing their 50th-anniversary celebration from 2016, the intrinsically Californian brand continues to offer a high-quality homage to their retro-tinged deluxe line, the Anaheim Factory range. All the elements within the Anaheim Factory releases can be dated back to the late ‘60s and early ‘70s, a time when early adopters, sponsors (and all round skate legends) Tony Alva & Stacy Peralta were bombing pools with the most robust skate shoes of their time. Cotton laces, heavy 10 oz. canvas, original drill lining found on the heel of each shoe and a higher glossed foxing tape that captures a sheen that originated from the vulcanization process, are all design elements that were seen on the original creations.

Alongside the old design cues, the original Vans signifier for each model, the style code, is branded prominently in the Anaheim collection. Each creation at the factory was given a number as a signifier before their later day dubbing:

Vans Authentic – Style #44 

  • The first design to hit the factory floor, the birth of the brand

Vans Era – Style #95 

  • A concept coined by Alva & Peralta at the peak of their collective powers, adding an ankle collar and two-tone colouring to the upper.

Vans Old Skool – Style #36

  • Made to take a bashing, The Old Skool is Vans’ first skate shoe that incorporated leather panels for increased durability, as well as being the first shoe to incorporate Vans’ unmistakeable side stripe.

Vans Slip On – Style #98 

Vans Sk8-Hi – Style #38

  • The final design of Vans’ core 5 designs, the Sk8-Hi brought protection to the ankles and revolutionary style to the skate park

With time between their initial re-release to now, the modern tweaks to the Anaheim range have propelled the deluxe (DX) offering to another level, including an ULTRACUSH innard (Vans’ memory foam sole) to enhance comfort whilst maximising style.

Treat yourself to a premium iteration of a classic with Vans’ brand new release of the Anaheim collection.

Outfit - Pastels and prints

Outfit – Pastels and patterns

Our growing streetwear collection consists of some of your favourite brands and with the fashion genre quite possibly being at is most eclectic yet it was no surprise to see this season’s trends having an element of ‘clash’. With pastels, stripes and of course the relentless camo making prominent appearances we thought we’d throw something together to remind you it doesn’t have to be one or the other anymore.

 

Stussy, Penfield, Vans and Eastpak

 

Its all about the clash, outfit features black corduroy trousers by Nudie Jeans, striped colour block rugby shirt by Stussy, pink cotton coach jacket by Penfield, camo print waist bag by Eastpak and suede trainers by Vans.

Vans | The Big 5 0 | The Edit

Vans | The Big 5 0 | The Edit

This week we have selected our favourite styles from this seasons collection from Vans, and headed down to Holy Smokes to showcase them. The iconic American manufacturer of shoes and skate apparel Vans are now available online and in store.

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Samantha Carruthers is an Online Editor at Aphrodite. Find her on Google+