You’d be hard pushed to find someone that loves art and sneakers more than us (except maybe Dave White!). That’s why we’ll be first in line when Vans launches its second collaboration with the world-renowned Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) on November 11.
For those that didn’t manage to bag September’s release, you missed out on the streetwear brand translating works by Salvador Dalí, Claude Monet and Wassily Kandinsky into T-shirts and sneakers. You are just in time to join us in the queue though for the forthcoming drop, which will take its inspiration from works by Edvard Munch, Jackson Pollock, Lyubov Popova and acclaimed painter, writer, sculptor, performance artist, educator and activist Faith Ringgold.
Ringgold worked closely with curators to add her feminist poster art and powerful words to a reversible bucket hat, long-sleeved tee and classic Vans Era skate shoe. A second footwear style, the Classic Slip-On, is also inspired by Ringgold’s ‘Seven Passages to a Flight’, which was made in the 1990s. Inscribed on the sidewall is a quote, from Ringgold, printed in her handwriting, that states “My mother said I’d have to work twice as hard to go half as far”.
Angie Dita, Vans Head of Global Footwear Design for Lifestyle Footwear, said: “Our collaboration with MoMA is a true partnership that involved working together to select both the works and footwear to ensure an authentic connection between the art and the canvas footwear models we chose. Faith Ringgold worked closely with both the Vans design and MoMA teams to story tell through the details, bringing in quilted borders to contextualise her work atop Vans.”
The collaboration, which aims to uplift art education through special product, will also see a print version of Edvard Munch’s best-known work, ‘The Scream 1895’, carefully captured on each of the canvas panels of the Vans Era and featured on an Old Skool backpack, short-sleeved tee and hoodie.
Pollock’s ‘One: Number 31, 1950’ also gets an all-over application on a pair of Vans Authentics atop the canvas and across the sidewalls and is digitally printed on to a short-sleeve button-down and camper style hat.
The collection will be available globally on November 11 on Vans.eu, MoMA Design Store locations, store.moma.org, and at select retail locations where Vans are sold. See you there!