Vans Old Skool Tapered 'Animal Mix - Leopard'
Colorway: Grape Leaf · Style code: VN0A54F4KCZ · Release date: October 19, 2022 · Price: $105 · Availability: Available now
More colorways: Liberty Fabrics x Vans Old Skool Tapered 'Patchwork Floral - Black Multi' (VN0A54F44TR) · 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)
Animal Mix puts the leopard pattern on canvas, and that choice matters. Printed onto fabric, the spots sit flat and graphic instead of picking up the depth a hair-on or embossed suede would give them, which keeps the shoe closer to a patterned sneaker than a fur-effect one. Grape Leaf, a muted olive green, replaces the usual tan ground, so the whole thing reads as camouflage more than as animal print from a distance.
The Tapered last narrows the forefoot, and a slimmer profile suits a busy upper by reducing the area the pattern has to cover. This one came out on October 19, 2022. Underneath sit the parts every pair in this family shares: a padded ankle collar, a reinforced toe, metal eyelets and a vulcanised sole with waffle tread. Olive and leopard is a combination that behaves like a neutral in practice, which is why patterned versions in earth tones stay wearable long after brighter novelty prints have dated.