Personal expression is the name of the game as sneaker giant Vans nods to 60 years of casual California kicks in a stylish campaign led by the likes of SZA, Travis Barker and Hayley Williams.
Favored by skaters and musicians for six decades, the sneaker, particularly the low-cut Vans Authentic and its durable waffle outsole, packs plentiful history into every highly affordable canvas pair, now seen in a variety of memorable looks as part of a new “Off The Wall” global campaign. SZA shows off her dance moves and dexterity, as does Paramore singer-turned-solo artist Hayley Williams.
Just as eye-catching is jack-of-all-trades drummer Travis Barker, sporting a two-tone set of Vans in front of a house adorned with the numerals “1966,” a nod to the brand’s California birth year. As the company says, each new campaign star was selected with the utmost authenticity in mind.
“Off the Wall reflects how Vans moves through culture: how it creates, how it connects, and how it evolves,” the company said in a statement. “Each individual featured embodies that mindset, completely unique, yet hardwired to create their own noise.”
Of course, the famed Vans checkerboard pattern finds its way onto the feet of its new Off The Wall campaign stars, including Williams rocking a red-and-white checkered pair, perhaps in a nod to Paramore’s numerous appearances on the Vans Warped Tour in the mid-aughts.
Vans has partnered with the likes offashion tastemakers Engineered Garments as well as famed menswear designer Todd Snyder in recent years, but its own in-house Authentic silhouette is the name of the game in the splashy, vibrant campaign. The sneaker brand also recently debuted a special-edition 60th Anniversary Vans Authentic in fresh colorways and premium materials, and it seems the sneakerhead-approved celebration is just getting started this year for Vans.
To honor the occasion and the new campaign, Vans will debut a special Off The Wall pack release across its retail locations and online store, while WWD notes that SZA was named Vans’ first artistic director last year and sports her Vans in distinctive style accordingly.
Meanwhile, a new version of the Vans Authentic gets as rugged and functional as it is low-key and yet stylish, using a revamped outsole to turn the low-profile shoe into a durable deck shoe of sorts, according to Gear Patrol. Complete with Sola Foam construction, the kicks add another wrinkle to a long-running pair of sneakers that have managed to retain a punk rock edge. It remains to be seen what the rest of this anniversary year holds for Vans, but it’s clear the sneaker behemoth has its finger on the pulse, even after six decades of the Vans Authentic.
