Vans Old School

Author: Erik Posted: August 27th, 2010

I started skateboarding back in 1995, when I was 14 years old. It was also around that time I began to care about clothing, and most importantly, shoes.


Ray Barbee, Transfer Ollie

I grew up in a small town without skateshops and the only trainers you could get hold of were certainly not made for skateboarding so, after months of nagging, my mom and dad finally took me to Stockholm to get me a pair of real skate shoes from an actual skateshop. Thinking of the buzz I got from just walking into that store still makes me smile and I remember choosing a pair of Vans Hemi after approximately 1 hour of making up my mind. It was a low shoe in beige and brown suede with white laces and sole. I remember thinking they were the perfect pair. Those shoes served me well through my first heel flips and I had many pairs of Vans later on.

A lot has happened in the skate shoe industry since that time and and most models on the market are rather chunky than chic and a lot of the skate shoe manufacturers seem they could probably adjust their brand profile and go into mountain climbing gear merchants quite easily. The Vans classics line is yet the opposite. It is all about looking good whether you’re on your board or not.

This week we received a shipment of the nicest Vans Old Schools I’ve ever laid my hands on and I definitely felt the same buzz unpacking these, as I did that day back in -95, trying on my first pair of Hemis. Enough said, just check them out.