Vans, the original action sports brand and advocate for creative expression, have joined forces with British fashion house Vivienne Westwood to create a footwear capsule collection that champions fearless individualism and liberation. The Vans x Vivienne Westwood Anglomania collection will launch in stores and online September 20.
The exclusive collection reinterprets iconic Westwood archive prints, graphics and design notes of the house for six of Vans Classic silhouettes;
As a nod to each brand’s birthplace, the Sk8-Hi features embossed markings of a handwritten letter sent from Southern California to Vivienne Westwood’s flagship boutique at 44 Conduit St., London. The Sk8-Hi is outfitted with a natural vegetable dye tan leather, printed postage stamp listing the collaboration launch date and a leather-bound outsole.
The Sk8-Hi Platform compliments the collection and is inspired by Vivienne Westwood’s Pirate boot – first presented in 1981 as part of the legendary Pirate collection. The Sk8-Hi Platform adopts key design notes from the iconic Vivienne Westwood Pirate boot – including the tan vegetable dye buckled strap across the high-top form.
Uniting the history of both brands, the Checkerboard Slip-On features Vans’ Checkerboard pattern layered with the Vivienne Westwood DESTROY graphic – brand signatures that both debuted in 1977. Westwood upholds the intent of the everchanging Checkerboard by subverting the design to include larger scale checks applied diagonally on the vamp.
Selected from Vans ‘90s archives, the collection reintroduces Style #53. The loafer style slip-on features black suede uppers, black lugged outsole and is finished with a Vivienne Westwood multi-coloured metal orb.
Rounding out the Vans x Vivienne Westwood Anglomania collection are the Old Skool and Authentic styleswhichshowcase the Vivienne Westwood Orb and Lightning Bolt print from the collection of house prints. The Old Skool is outfitted in oxblood suede and canvas with contrasting mustard stitching and gum sole. Vans’ original deck shoe, the Authentic, is presented in a new vivid sky-blue colourway made exclusively for this collaboration. Each of these styles are finished with a “VW” monogram.
The Vans x Vivienne Westwood Anglomania capsule collection will be available to shop at select Vans and Vivienne Westwood retail locations around the world and online at: Vans.com and VivienneWestwood.com from September 20. Visit vans.com/viviennewestwood for more information.
VIVIENNE WESTWOOD
Vivienne Westwood began designing in 1971 along with her then partner Malcolm McLaren in London. At the time they used their shop at 430 Kings Road, London, to showcase their ideas and designs. With their changing ideas of fashion came the change of not only the name of the shop but also the décor. It was in 1976 when Westwood and McLaren defined the street culture of Punk with Seditionaries.
By the end of the seventies Vivienne Westwood was already considered a symbol of the British avant-garde and for Autumn/Winter 1981 she showed her first catwalk presentation at Olympia in London. Westwood then turned to traditional Savile Row tailoring techniques, using British fabrics and 17th and 18th century art for inspiration.
Vivienne Westwood is now one of the last independent global fashion companies in the world. At times thought provoking, this brand is about more than producing clothes and accessories – aiming to capture the imagination, inspire and raise awareness of global issues.
14 September 2019