Seriously: Vans doesn’t get the shine it deserves. Not on the big sites, not on most blogs. And then they drop something like this.
For a lot of people, Vans is “that skate shoe your mom knows, too.” Fair enough. But that’s exactly why everyone overlooks the wild outliers — and this is one of them. The Old Skool “Souvenir” isn’t a pristine, straight-off-the-shelf Old Skool; it looks like it’s already spent ten years in a mosh pit.
Check the side. Where you’d normally find that simple white jazz stripe, there’s a cluster of enamel pins: a red-and-black checkerboard, a yellow smiley, a yin-yang, a VANS badge — all pinned on like you collected them on tour. Hence “Souvenir.” Behind them, colorful tweed peeks through: pure punk battle-jacket energy. The whole thing comes with pre-distressed, grimy off-white foxing — that worn-in, weathered look, as if the shoe had already lived an entire life before you even pulled it out of the box.
And yeah, I know what you’re thinking: isn’t that “beaten-up” trend already passé? On a sneaker that’s trying to look clean: absolutely, leave it alone. But here? This is skate. This is punk. In this genre, looking worn isn’t a trend that comes and goes — it’s simply how it’s supposed to be. A spotless, polished punk shoe would actually be the wrong move.
A nice change from an Old Skool for once, right? Well, sort of. It is just an Old Skool. That’s the whole joke: the same silhouette you already know, completely hijacked by pins, fabric and grime. Clean enough in shape, tough enough in execution.
One thing: this isn’t an €80 Old Skool. Solezilla lists it at three shops between €175 and €284 — a premium edition, not an everyday pair. So if you want it, comparing prices is definitely worth it, because that difference is huge.
A fan of skate/punk fits, or simply tired of yet another clean sneaker? Check out the Old Skool “Souvenir” on Solezilla and grab it from the shop with the sharpest price.