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Inspired by the surf and skate scene in Southern California, the One Block Down x Vans “Dog Days” collection honors the iconic Vans Slip-On. This capsule looks back on the 1970’s specifically, as this era would set the standard for skate culture and the essence of Vans itself.
Although Vans has grown to have a variety of offerings on its roster, the Vans Slip-On will forever remain a sneaker staple. The silhouette first catapulted to popularity during the ’70s, thanks to the surfers in Southern California. Eventually the surfers would experiment with new board ideas on land, resulting in the birth of skateboarding. This gave the Vans Slip-On a whole new purpose and further cemented the sneaker as a must-have within the skate scene.
Perhaps more iconic than the Vans Slip-On itself is the Vans checkerboard print. This pattern came to be after one of the Vans co-founders noticed skaters coloring the white rubber foxing on their sneakers with a similar two-tone grid. This inspired Vans to create a checkerboard-print canvas upper for the Slip-On — and the rest is history.
To honor the legacy of the Vans Slip-On, One Block Down created a limited edition collection that offers three colorways of the sneaker, all finished with a beaded checkerboard-print upper. Each sneaker is handcrafted and made with shiny jewel-tone beads. The impressive beadwork is done in Italy and takes up to 10 hours to complete a single sneaker. Coming in colorways of “Caution,” “Bonfire,” and “Grass,” each iteration offers a two-tone checkerboard upper with an opulent jeweled finish.
The One Block Down x Vans “Dog Days” releases on July 29, 2022. Due to the intricate nature of the handcrafted beading process, only 107 pairs of these sneakers were made. The limited quantity will drop exclusively online via oneblockdown.it at 9am CET. Each sneaker is priced at €163,93 (Approx $167 USD). For more sneaker news and release dates, follow @NiceKicks on Twitter.
