Vans Old Skool 'Alien Ghosts'
Colorway: Black/True White · Style code: VN0A4BV5TB1 · Price: $130 · Availability: Available now
More colorways: Vans Old Skool 'Corduroy - Primary' (VN0A4BV500Y) · Vans Old Skool J.Crew Corduroy Sneakers (VN0A4BV501J) · Vans Old Skool 'What The Buffalo - Multi-Color' (VN0A4BV503I) · Zhao x Vans Old Skool 'Year of the Rat' (VN0A4BV506G) · Vans Old Skool 'Mix & Match - Grape Juice Bright Marigold' (VN0A4BV516V)
Alien Ghosts is a graphic pair rather than a colour one. White cartoon figures repeat across a black canvas upper, sized small enough that the pattern reads as texture from across a room and only resolves into characters up close. The overlays at the toe and heel stay solid, which is the arrangement Vans uses whenever the middle of the shoe carries a print, and the leather sidestripe keeps its own colour so the outline of the model survives the decoration.
The pair sold at $60, the standard general-release price for printed canvas in this range. Nothing in the build departs from the template, right down to the metal eyelets, the cushioned ankle opening and the waffle tread bonded to a vulcanised sole. Black grounds are far kinder to a printed shoe than white ones, because scuffing along the foxing tape shows less and the graphic keeps its contrast even after the canvas has softened and the print has thinned at the flex crease.