Sarah Andelman — former creative director of streetwear stalwart colette — is teaming up with Vault by Vans for an exclusive capsule that commemorates International Women’s Day. For this initiative, she hand-picked four inspiring artists from across the globe including Julia Chang, Fumiko Imano, Sindiso Khumalo and Soko. to lend their creative touch to various apparel pieces and footwear silhouettes.
“I have always been a Vans lover,” says Sarah Andelman. “For this Vault by Vans collection, I immediately thought of these four creative women I met in different cities, different years, all under different contexts but they all share a passion for what they do, and they’re all amazing in dealing with their work and personal life. I hope their collections reflect their philosophies and will be appreciated by women of all ages.”
Julia Chang — an artist based in Brooklyn, NY — will often create with paint and ceramics, and much of her art is made to celebrate imperfection. For this collection, she designed with the intention of imagining how her shoes and clothing pieces would live in the real world. She worked her magic on an Authentic LX for adults and an Authentic for kids, both of which feature one of her paintings on top of a washed denim base layer along with yellow jazz stripes and laces. Dropping alongside the kicks are a bucket and watercolor-inspired graphic tee.
Fumiko Imano is widely known for her self-portraits and photomontages that are shot with a 35mm camera and then cut and pasted to create a twin-like aesthetic. She turned to her solo exhibition titled “Somehow Somewhere Sometimes at Some Place for Some Reason” which was on view at Kosaku Kanechika Gallery in 2020 as the muse for her assemblage that entails the OG Sk8-Hi LX and matching Sk8-Hi Reissue for the little ones. A print from Imano’s exhibition is plastered across the yellow canvas upper halves, and “Somehow Somewhere Sometimes at Some Place for Some Reason” spell-outs are found across the iconic side stripes and laces.
Based of out Cape Town, South Africa, Sindiso Kkumalo started her eponymous label in 2015 that focuses on making sustainable clothing, uplifting women of color and highlighting her African heritage. Her mother — who was an activist — serves as the main form of inspiration for her OG Style 24 NTC LX makeup for adults and Classic Slip-On for the kids. An image of her mother on her Kkumalo’s wedding day dressed in Zulu attire is etched onto the side panels of the former and the toe boxes of the latter while traditional Zulu homesteads sit adjacent. Releasing alongside the kicks is an oversized tee that bears water-based ink to showcase the same illustration.
French singer-songwriter, musician, and actress Soko rounds off this assortment. She taps into her bank of childhood memories for this collaboration, calling upon vivid imagery of her cat Felix. She plasters him in all-over fashion across the Old Skool V Platform for adults and the Old Skool V for children. Moreover, she includes a long-sleeved tee and bucket hat that are adorned with sporty graphics.
Peep a closer look at the capsule above and note that it will be dropping on March 4 at select Vault by Vans retailers.
In other news, NEIGHBORHOOD and Vans have linked up to make a ceramic Sk8-Hi incense chamber.