Vans Authentic 33 DX 'Blue'
Colorway: Blue/True White · Style code: VN0A38ENQA5 · Price: $258 · Availability: Available now
More colorways: NEIGHBORHOOD x Mister Cartoon x Vans Authentic 44 DX 'Tattoo Print' (VN0A38EN00G1) · Vans Authentic 44 DX 'Anaheim Factory - Epic Flame' (VN0A38EN423) · BAPE x Vans Authentic 44 DX 'First Camo' (VN0A38EN7BC) · Vans Authentic 44 DX 'Tapestry' (VN0A38ENAB7) · Noon Goons x Vans Authentic 44 DX 'Almond' (VN0A38ENDFF)
On 16 March 1966, Paul Van Doren, his brother James and Gordon Lee opened the Van Doren Rubber Company at 704 East Broadway in Anaheim, California. Twelve customers bought shoes that day, at between two and five dollars a pair. The store had no stock ready and Van Doren had no change in the register, so the customers were asked to come back the next day to pay.
What those twelve people bought was the deck shoe now called the Authentic, catalogued as Style 44. The design has barely moved since: a low canvas upper, a simple lace-up closure, a rubber foxing stripe running around the join, and the waffle-pattern outsole that gave the shoe its grip on a skateboard years before anyone at the company was thinking about skateboards.
The model earned the rest of its reputation by accident. Skaters in Southern California found it before Vans found them, and the flat sole and thick sidewall turned out to be exactly what the sport needed.
This is the DX build, which upgrades the materials without touching the outline, in blue over a true white sole.