Vans teams up with NASA to commemorate 60 years of reaching for the stars
Now this is strange. A Newplex style blog? That’s unusual. The first ever Newplex style blog and it’s written by Jads? That is just bizarre.
But it’s happening folks, so strap in (or lace up, am I right? …Oh dear) for some musings from my latest acquisition; these oh-so-sick Vans Space Voyager Sk8-Hi 46 MTE DX shoes.
The collaboration here is genius. Take a walk down the high street and you’ll find a myriad of boring scraps of overpriced nothing with a NASA logo slapped on it to try and give it some identity. But not here. Particularly in the shoes, Vans have done a great job in capturing what it is that makes NASA hold the public’s imagination the way it does: space exploration.
The collection, which features a few different sneaker designs along with various items of clothing and accessories, borrows iconic imagery from NASA’s history to mark its 60th birthday.
Stars of the show
For me, these Sk8-His are the stars of the show. They take the incredibly popular Sk8-Hi design and subtly infuse them with little tidbits to get space fans excited. The trim around the collar and along the sides is a spongy white material, mirroring the aesthetic of early astronaut spacesuits as worn by the Apollo 11 crew.
Indeed the 1969 mission to the Moon is commemorated with a removable velcro patch that sits on the outside of the right shoe. Exactly why the patch is removable is unclear – as far as I can tell alternate patches are not available for purchase, and now I’m just going to be paranoid that it will drop off and be lost in London forever (perish the thought). Though, to be fair, it seems pretty sturdy and does take some doing to pull off. The same is true for the Vans Off the Wall patches that attach to the tongue of each shoe.
The insole is printed with a diagram of various parts of the Apollo craft, which looks so cool and the thought of it being eroded away through use is enough to make me cry. Though having said that, I just took off the Old Skools I’m wearing today to look inside, and the Vans logo printed at the heel of the insole is still pretty clear, despit nearly two years of use and enough sweat to fill a bath. So there’s hope, I guess.
Despite all the NASA flourishes, the Sk8-Hi maintains its effortlessly cool Vans identity. Compared to other items in the Space Voyager collection, they are the least “out there” (ironically?), with simple colours and a recognisable design. For someone like myself, by far the least fashion-conscious person on Team Newplex, that’s a winning combination.
I like Vans. I like space. These do a good job of representing both.
Where to find
Given past experience with Vans’ limited run stuff (my parents surprised me with some Disney Authentics they’d shipped in from Italy for Christmas after I was too slow to get some myself here in the UK), I knew I couldn’t hang around. So, first thing on Friday morning, I jumped onto the Vans website and ordered. There was no time for doubt, even though – as I am not a Kardashian – £110 for a pair of sneakers is not a trivial purchase. Indeed it is the most I’ve ever spent on shoes in my young life, and it’s not a record I’m keen to break anytime soon.
But I really wanted them, and Donna Meagle’s infamous mantra for impulse-buyers world over rang through my ears; “treat yo’ self.”
Having said that, there’s always a deal to be had. By ordering directly from Vans, I was able to save 10% with a student discount. After a quick Google, I can see certain items from the collection scattered around various retailers, each with their own discounts and incentives. For example, the white version of these shoes and the orange NASA Old Skools can be found at Urban Outfitters, who offer a 20% student discount.
One small step
Interesting side note: the reason you see so much stuff in stores with NASA branding on is that, as a government agency, they do not charge for its use. Companies have to get approval, which NASA can reject if the design breaches their guidelines, but the default position seems to be if you want to use the logo, you can.
That’s got to suck. Imagine how much money they could make (and put back into research) if they were able to charge for licensing. One just hopes projects like these remind folks what it is that inspires them about science and innovation, and why it’s still worth pursuing.