About

Vans Style

Before the famous Vans models got names, they had numbers. The Van Doren family company listed its catalog for decades as Style followed by a number, and that record-keeping survives as insider shorthand. The Old Skool started as Style 36, the Sk8-Hi as Style 38, the Authentic as Style 44 and the Era as Style 95. On this page are the editions sold under their original catalog number, and these are often the most interesting on the shelf.

The best-known number is the Vans Style 36, the shoe that first showed the sidestripe in 1977, the wavy stripe that founder Paul Van Doren began as a doodle and that grew into the brand’s face. The reissues under number 36 stay closer to that original than the modern Old Skool: a lower profile, a narrower sidestripe and, on the Retro Sport versions, a toe and heel in contrasting suede.

Other numbers appear that never got a name. The Vans Style 73 brings back the sporty lines of the early nineties, in DX form through the Anaheim Factory program that honors the early days of the first factory in Anaheim, complete with glossy foxing and a modern UltraCush footbed. And skaters know the Vans Style 112, the pro model with reinforced panels that simply kept its number as a name.

For collectors the numbering system is more than nostalgia: it distinguishes reissues with vintage specifications from regular production. Anyone who sees Style on the box knows the archive was consulted, from the stitching to the shape of the rubber rim around the sole.

On this page you can see which versions of the Vans Style are currently hottest according to the Hypescore, the starting prices and how many shops have them in stock.