Occasions: Sports, Outdoor, Leisure
 
Price: 300-1300
 
Recommended items: Authentic, Era, Old Skools, Sk8-Hi, Slip-on
 
Compared with the youthful aura of the converse brand, VANS's Era classic canvas shoe series is much more retro. Vans is an original extreme sports brand under VF Group, born in 1966 in Southern California. As the strongest growth sub-brand of VF Group, one of the world's largest listed ready-to-wear companies, Vans accounted for 17% of the parent company's total revenue in 2015. In 2016, the global market performance increased by 6% year-on-year, with revenue of 2.3 billion US dollars (equivalent to 15.2 billion yuan), and the Asia-Pacific region represented by China increased by 20%.
 
Vans uses a traditional vulcanization process to give the shoe a sturdy construction infused with sports, art and street culture. As the originator of the skateboarding industry, Vans is recognized and sought after by extreme sports enthusiasts and trendy people from all over the world, such as skateboarding, surfing, BMX, skiing, etc., and has become a unique youth culture icon.
 
Vans has classic styles such as ERA, AUTHENTIC, SK8-HI, and SLIP-ON, and the domestic price is about 395-895 yuan, and at the same time, the waffle sole, black and white checkerboard, side stripes and the heel OFF THE WALL mark have become Vans' unique symbols. Vans supports the growing popularity of folk skateboarding with two world-class skateboarding events each year, and is the ultimate symbol of freedom in surfing and music.
 
As Vans' best-selling series from 1966 to the present, Authentic is undoubtedly a classic among classics. In 1966, Vans produced the first pair of shoes in navy blue, the Authentic, which was made using a double layer of thick canvas and a pure rubber waffle sole. When skateboarding was a street sport that first became popular in the southern United States, James Van Doren designed a waffle-like raw rubber sole that could provide very strong adhesion to skateboarding, so it was widely popular with young people, especially skateboarders. To this day, the waffle sole is still a clear mark of Vans.
 
Created in 1976, the Vans Era is based on the Authentic with a thickened heel foam padding that provides better cushioning for skaters. The color-block design of the navy blue and red of the early Era series also broke the monochromatic upper design of the time. It was on the heel of this shoe that Vans was stamped with the Off the Wall logo for the first time.
 
In 1977, the Old Skool collection was born, the first pair to feature the iconic side stripes and the first Vans shoe to contain leather. The side stripe was a casual drawing by the brand's founder, Paul Van Doren, but it has become a classic Vans icon, making Vans' shoes more eye-catching and unique.
 
In addition to skateboarders, Vans' more popular line, Slip-on, was also created in the late '70s.
 
The Slip-on series was originally a lightweight shoe produced by the Van Doren family in their own factory before the Vans brand was founded; After the launch of the Vans brand, they incorporated the unique style of the shoe into the Vans family. The Slip-on series was loved and promoted by many skateboarders and BMX enthusiasts when it debuted, and quickly became the new favorite of all walks of life. The black-and-white checkerboard pattern is one of the most iconic shoes in the collection, and Oscar-winning Sean Penn is also very fond of it, and has worn it in movies many times.
 
 
In 1978, Vans released his first classic skateboarder, the SK8-Hi. It has been reinforced and thickened on both sides of the shoe, a design that has been so important in the history of skateboarding shoes that countless skateboarders have protected their ankles from injury. Today, this shoe has become the prototype of Vans' most iconic SK8-Hi series.
 
In addition to classic collections, Vans has collaborated with brands, rock bands and artists such as LINE FRIENDS, WTAPS, GARAGELAND, Takashi Murakami, KISS, Sex Pistols, Star Wars, and many more.
 
Since its inception in 2003, the best representative of Vans Vault's high-end branch line is The Simpsons x Vans Vault collaboration in 2007. The collaboration included a slew of artists: KAWS, Futura, and Mr. Cartoon, among others, who injected their ideas into characters from the classic The Simpsons animation, placing these iconic cartoon characters on different Vans shoes. The entire collection sold out within 90 minutes of its official release.
 
The Vans Vault saga is a 2013 collaboration with Disney, which was founded in 1966 and based in Disney's hometown of Anaheim. Disney and Vans Vault's 2013 collaboration isn't original, it's all from their '80s collaboration, and it's been recreated with the more retro OG Authentic LX and OG Sk8-Hi LX shoes in Vans Vault. Receiving a pair of shoes from this collaboration was a dream for many shoe collectors.
 
What's great about Vans is that it has a variety of upper designs that make it look very dynamic and stylish. In terms of shoe shape, the Vans are generally wider than the Converse, and it is easier for Orientals with wider feet to adapt to the wearing feeling. But Vans has some skateboard shoes with heel protection that can grind your feet during everyday walking.