Liberty Fabrics x Vans Old Skool Tapered 'Patchwork Floral - Black Multi'
Colorway: Multi/Yellow Floral · Style code: VN0A54F44TR · Release date: April 2, 2021 · Price: $2693 · Availability: Available now
More colorways: Liberty Fabrics x Vans Old Skool Tapered 'Patchwork Floral' (VN0A54F44TV) · Liberty Fabrics x Vans Old Skool Tapered 'Patchwork Floral - Multi' (VN0A54F44TW) · Vans Old Skool 'Tapered - Lavender' (VN0A54F44U1) · Vans Old Skool Tapered Cali Sneakers (VN0A54F44U3) · Vans Old Skool Tapered 'Eco Theory - Black White Checkerboard' (VN0A54F4705)
Liberty has been selling printed fabric in London since the nineteenth century, and its archive of florals is the reason its name turns up on other companies' products. Vans has drawn on that archive repeatedly since the mid-2010s, pulling prints (including patterns originally designed by William Morris) onto canvas silhouettes built for skateparks. The pairing works because the two halves have nothing to do with each other: a fabric house associated with department-store dress goods, applied to a shoe designed to be destroyed. This one runs a patchwork floral across a tapered Old Skool, a narrower cut through the toe than the standard shape, which changes the proportions more than a print ever could. The sidestripe stays exactly where it always sits, and that single detail is what keeps the shoe legible as a Vans rather than as printed canvas.