Vans x Proper

Proper is a skate shop in Long Beach, CA and last year they got the attention of the Vans community with their awesome series of satin sk8-his.

This year they have really laid down the gauntlet to W)Taps and Supreme with a new range of four shoes for Vans. Pics are all over the internet – check the Sneaker Freaker interview which broke the news – so here’s just one to refresh your memory.

I love a themed pack and here we have one of my favourite themes of all – nautical. Each of the six shoes in the pack is decked out with cute flags and all three of the models work perfectly in some kind of yachting context. If you know the label Pegleg NYC – I reckon these shoes were made to go with their Vampire Weekend/yacht club/golf geek range of t-shirts from the last couple of years.

By far the most popular, even before they have dropped, seems to be the hybrid of the Chukka with the Zapato Del Barco. I for one am getting a little bored of the deck shoe craze, so am looking forward to this being the last of these kinds of shoes, but I can see how it works and why all the fellas love it so much.

My favourite has to be the Native American. This is originally a lesser known sk8-hi/Chuck-style hi-top. Proper have stripped it down into a one piece and laid on a subtle checkerboard heel piece. The colours, sweatshirt grey and bright blue, are very summery indeed.

The one I’m not sure about is the Authentic. They’ve turned it into a one-piece also, and it’s now seamless with none of the white contrast stitching that makes the Vans authentic a design classic,*the* iconic deck shoe. I’m so in love with authentics generally that it’s taking me some time to get used to this seamless one-piece version. But I imagine I’ll get there.